Imposition of sanctions with respect to the financial sector of Iran

Congress makes the following findings: The financial sector of Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran, is designated as a primary money laundering concern for purposes of section 5318A of title 31 because of the threat to government and financial institutions resulting from the illicit activities of the Government of Iran, including its pursuit of nuclear weapons, support for international terrorism, and efforts to deceive responsible financial institutions and evade sanctions. The President shall, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property of an Iranian financial institution if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person. Except as specifically provided in this subsection, beginning on the date that is 60 days after December 31, 2011, the President— The President may not impose sanctions under paragraph (1) with respect to any person for conducting or facilitating a transaction for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices to Iran. Except as provided in paragraph (4), sanctions imposed under paragraph (1)(A) shall apply with respect to a central bank of a foreign country, only insofar as it engages in a financial transaction for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran conducted or facilitated on or after that date that is 180 days after December 31, 2011. Not later than October 25, 2012, and the last Thursday of every other month thereafter, the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall submit to Congress a report on the availability and price of petroleum and petroleum products produced in countries other than Iran in the 2-month period preceding the submission of the report. Not later than 90 days after December 31, 2011, and every 180 days thereafter, the President shall make a determination, based on the reports required by subparagraph (A), of whether the price and supply of petroleum and petroleum products produced in countries other than Iran is sufficient to permit purchasers of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran to reduce significantly in volume their purchases from Iran. Except as provided in subparagraph (D), sanctions imposed under paragraph (1)(A) shall apply with respect to a financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution on or after the date that is 180 days after December 31, 2011, for the purchase of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran if the President determines pursuant to subparagraph (B) that there is a sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran to permit a significant reduction in the volume of petroleum and petroleum products purchased from Iran by or through foreign financial institutions. Sanctions imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to a financial transaction described in clause (ii) conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution if the President determines and reports to Congress, not later than 90 days after the date on which the President makes the determination required by subparagraph (B), and every 180 days thereafter, that the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution— A financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution is described in this clause if— For the purpose of paragraph (1)(A), a “significant financial transaction” shall include, based on relevant facts and circumstances, any transaction— Not later than 180 days after April 24, 2024, and every year thereafter for 5 years, the President shall— determine whether any— The President may waive the imposition of sanctions under paragraph (1) for a period of not more than 120 days, and may renew that waiver for additional periods of not more than 120 days, if the President— submits to Congress a report— The President shall— carry out an initiative of multilateral diplomacy to persuade countries purchasing oil from Iran— to prohibit purchases by Iran of— military or dual-use technology, including items— Not later than 180 days after December 31, 2011, and every 180 days thereafter, the President shall submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the President to carry out the initiative described in paragraph (1)(A) and conduct the outreach described in paragraph (1)(B) and the results of those efforts. Each report submitted under this section shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex. The President may exercise all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this section. The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this section or regulations prescribed under this section to the same extent that such penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act described in section 206(a) of that Act. In this section: The terms “account”, “correspondent account”, and “payable-through account” have the meanings given those terms in section 5318A of title 31. The term “foreign financial institution” has the meaning of that term as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 8513(i) of this title. The terms “reduce significantly”, “significant reduction”, and “significantly reduced”, with respect to purchases from Iran of petroleum and petroleum products, include a reduction in such purchases in terms of price or volume toward a complete cessation of such purchases. The term “United States person” means— The provisions of this section shall terminate on the date that is 30 days after the date on which the President submits to Congress the certification described in section 8551(a) of this title.