The licence that lets an American send money to a relative in Iran has been suspended, and the wind down runs out at one minute past midnight on 8 September
The licence that lets an American send money to a relative in Iran was suspended on Monday morning.
Five went at once.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a notice suspending, indefinitely, the effectiveness of five general licences under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations at 31 CFR part 560. Four of the five carry ordinary private contact between the two countries: certain educational activities by United States persons in third countries at section 560.544, certain noncommercial personal remittances to or from Iran at section 560.550, importation and exportation of services related to conferences in the United States or third countries at section 560.554, and Iran General License G, covering academic exchanges and certain educational services. The fifth, Iran General License F, authorised services in support of professional and amateur sports activities and exchanges.
The wind down is two weeks
Alongside the suspension OFAC issued General License BB, which authorises the transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to winding down anything previously authorised under those five licences. It runs through 12.01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 8 September, and it requires that any payment to a blocked person go into a blocked interest bearing account located in the United States. General License BB authorises nothing else.
After that date, OFAC directs anyone seeking to do what the suspended licences covered to apply for a specific licence.
Both documents are signed by the director of OFAC, Bradley T. Smith, and dated 24 August. The signature stamps are eight minutes apart, at 09.25 and 09.33 eastern.
Where the notice sits
Treasury announced the suspension as one line in a much longer statement launching what it calls Operation Economic Outcast against Iran. That statement describes the withdrawn licences as ones that "previously authorized certain remittance payments to Iran and Iranian access to the U.S. cultural and academic system".
The notice itself names the five sections and gives no reason for any of them.
