Washington — The United States took a number of actions February 6 to tighten sanctions on Iran’s access to its oil revenues and further expose the Iranian government’s continued abuse of human rights.

Key provisions of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (TRA) went into effect, the U.S. Treasury Department announced in a press release the same day. Those provisions expand the scope of sanctionable transactions with the Central Bank of Iran and designated Iranian financial institutions by restricting Iran’s ability to use oil revenue held in foreign financial institutions and preventing repatriation of those funds to Iran.

The increased restrictions under the TRA do not apply to the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine or medical devices to Iran. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued guidance February 6 to make it clear that humanitarian trade with Iran is not subject to these or previous sanctions on Iran.

The Treasury Department, in consultation with the State Department, also designated one individual and four entities for their involvement in the Iranian government’s censorship activities. These activities restrict the free flow of information in Iran and punish Iranians who attempt to exercise freedom of assembly and expression, the Treasury Department said.

The Treasury Department designated the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and its director, blocking their U.S. property and interests and prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with them. The department also designated three other entities in Iran — the Iranian Cyber Police, the Communications Regulatory Authority and Iran Electronics Industries.

This action is pursuant to Executive Order 13628, which implements the TRA by giving the Treasury Department the authority to designate those in Iran who restrict or deny the free flow of information to or from the Iranian people.

“Our policy is clear — so long as Iran continues to fail to address the concerns of the international community about its nuclear program, the U.S. will impose tighter sanctions and intensify the economic pressure against the Iranian regime,” said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. “We will also target those in Iran who are responsible for human right abuses, especially those who deny the Iranian people their basic freedoms of expression, assembly and speech.”

BACKGROUND

February 6 marked 180 days since President Obama signed the TRA, one section of which amends existing U.S. sanctions that target the Central Bank of Iran, designated Iranian financial institutions and Iran’s energy sector. At the 180-day mark, that section also narrows the exception for countries that have significantly reduced their purchases of Iranian crude oil so that the exception now only applies to financial transactions that facilitate bilateral trade between the country granted the exception and Iran. For the exception to apply to a financial transaction, funds owed to Iran as a result of such bilateral trade will now have to be credited to an account located in the country granted the exception and may not be repatriated to Iran.

This provision will significantly increase economic pressure on Iran by restricting its repatriation of oil revenue. In addition to effectively “locking up” Iranian oil revenue overseas, this provision sharply restricts Iran’s use of this revenue for bilateral trade and severely limits Iran’s ability to move funds across jurisdictions.

For further details, including identifying information of sanctioned entities, see the Treasury Department news release.