The US Department of Commerce showed, less than a week after the Iran nuclear agreement was implemented, how it will remain on the beat enforcing existing sanctions compliance obligations.
Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, which develops US export-control policy, said in a statement that it issued a temporary denial order against three people and two entities for attempting to sell aircraft to Caspian Airlines, which the US placed under sanctions in 2014 for its alleged support for terrorism. "U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran because of its support for terrorism remain in place notwithstanding the implementation of the JCPOA, "said Commerce Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David W. Mills, referring to the nuclear agreement between Iran and global powers. Under the agreement, the US agreed to lift its nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, but officials have stressed, and did so again on Implementation Day, that non-nuclear sanctions on Iran remain in force. On Implementation Day, which was Saturday, the US issued a statement that "establishes a favorable licensing policy" for the sale of aircraft and spare parts to Iran, provided the transactions do not involve someone still under US sanctions. Caspian Airlines remains under US sanctions, the Commerce Department noted, because of its support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The aircraft, registered in Gambia, are owned by Ribway Airlines Co., one of the entities cited in the order.
