Iran Sanctions - Foreign Press Centers

Iran Sanctions
2105 (“The Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Reform and Modernization Act.”) The
latter bill is highly similar to S. 1048, which is discussed below. Both House bills were passed by
the House on December 14, 2011. H.R. 2105 passed 418-2, and H.R. 1905 passed 410-11. On
February 2, 2012, the Senate Banking Committee ordered to be reported S. 2101, the Iran
Sanctions, Accountability, and Human Rights Act, that combines elements of these earlier bills.
H.R. 1905 (Iran Threat Reduction Act of 2011)
As passed, H.R. 1905, contains language restating provisions of ISA and would:
• Add two sanctions to the available ISA menu: a ban on visas for the principal
officers or controlling shareholders of sanctioned firms (and their subsidiaries,
parents, and affiliates); and application of any other ISA sanction to the principal
officers of a sanctioned firm.
• Require the President to impose at least six out of the expanded ISA menu of 11
available sanctions on any sanctioned firm.
• Make subject to ISA sanctions (majority of the menu) any firm that helps Iran
issue sovereign debt.
• Subject U.S. persons to penalty if they conduct any business with the IRGC or its
affiliated entities, or with any foreign firm that conducts such banned transactions
with the IRGC or its affiliates.
• Ban commerce between Iran and subsidiaries of U.S. firms, in cases where the
subsidiary is controlled or more than 50% owned by the parent firm.
• Ban previously permissible licensing of the sale to Iran of U.S. equipment to
provide for the safe operation of Iran’s civilian aircraft fleet.
• State that it is U.S. policy to support those in Iran seeking democracy, and require
an Administration submission to Congress of a comprehensive strategy to help
the Iranian people circumvent regime censorship and monitoring of their use of
the Internet or other media.
• Require an Administration report listing all persons who are members of named
Iranian government institutions, including high ranking IRGC officers—and ban
visas for the named individuals.
• Ban contact between any U.S. official and any Iranian official who poses a threat
to the United States or is affiliated with terrorist organizations.
• Contain elements similar to H.R. 740 on Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) disclosures, discussed further below.
• Sanction Iran’s Central Bank if the President determines that it helped Iran
acquire WMD or facilitated transactions for the Revolutionary Guard or for
entities sanctioned by the United States. (This sanction may have been mooted by
enactment of P.L. 112-81, discussed further below.)
• Set as U.S. policy to press Iraq not to close Camp Ashraf, an encampment in Iraq
which houses about 3,300 Iranian oppositionists, unless the residents can be
resettled. The Camp Ashraf issue is discussed in detail in CRS Report RL32048,
Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, by Kenneth Katzman.
Congressional Research Service 56