On October 10, Press TV reported that Iranians are now able to make direct purchases from Amazon and eBay “international retail sites,” according to Hossein Mehri, the managing director of Iran Post. Mehri claims to be privy to the details of this new arrangement, as Iran Post is alleged to be part of the channel for the delivery of items from the retail sites abroad to Iran.

As a sidenote, Iran Post is the Islamic Republic’s postal service in Iran. Earlier this year, Mehri gave the somewhat surprising news that “the highest volume of outgoing mail [Iran Post] handles goes to the United States.”

I’m deeply skeptical of PressTV’s report not just because of its source, but also because such transactions are generally prohibited under the U.S. trade embargo with Iran and will remain prohibited pursuant to the nuclear accord that the U.S., other major world powers, and Iran struck this past July.

Under the U.S. trade embargo with Iran, codified at 31 C.F.R. Part 560 (the “Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations”), the export or re-export of goods, services, or technology from the United States to Iran is prohibited, as are all trade-related dealings between the two countries. The sale of most goods from the Amazon or eBay website to Iran would be prohibited if engaged in by a U.S. person or within the United States. Since both companies are U.S. persons for purposes of the ITSR, as they are organized under the laws of the United States, they would be subject to this sanctions prohibition.

Two things are possible, though I still believe unlikely.

First, Mehri states that Iranians can purchase goods from the international retail sites of Amazon and eBay. Hypothetically, these international retail sites could be separate entities and thus lack U.S. personhood, thereby potentially escaping the jurisdictional nexus of the U.S. trade embargo with Iran.

However, that’s not the case here. Instead, as far I’m aware, these international retail sites are affiliates or foreign branches of the U.S. companies and, as such, are subject to the ITSR’s sanctions prohibitions. Under U.S. sanctions programs, including the ITSR, “all U.S. incorporated entities and their foreign branches” are required to comply with U.S. sanctions regulations.

Second, the sale of goods from Amazon and eBay’s retail sites could be specifically licensed. A specific license from OFAC would permit both companies to engage in otherwise prohibited transactions with Iran (to the extent licensed), including the export of certain goods and/or technologies to Iran, the provision of services to Iran, and the receipt of payment from Iran.

I would be shocked to find out that OFAC had specifically licensed either Amazon or eBay to provide access to Iranian users and sell goods and/or technologies to Iran. For one, both companies sell everything under the sun, so the authorization would have to be terribly broad (something that is not in line with OFAC’s track record). Moreover, if the authorization were instead relegated to certain goods or technologies, the compliance challenges in making sure that certain items were not sent to Iran or that items did not go to prohibited parties in Iran would be about as challenging as it gets – especially absent any kind of retail presence in Iran.

Since I saw the Press TV article last week, I haven’t seen any further mention of this news item. Iranian Twitter users did press @AskeBay to comment on the article, and @AskeBay’s response was not heartening for those expecting such a major change to OFAC’s administration of the trade embargo with Iran.

For now, then, I’m sticking to my skepticism.