A few days ago, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a series of designations to their Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List under Executive Order (E.O) 13382 and the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Sanctions Regulations (NPWMDSR) and the Syria Sanctions program. As is always the case, U.S. persons are now prohibited from engaging in transactions with those designated the other day and and any assets that the designated parties have that come under U.S. jurisdiction. The listing included numerous aircraft vessels owned by Air Iran, Mahan Air, and Yas Air, Iranian airlines also designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 due to there alleged links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iran Air, Mahan Air, and Yas Air are already barred from receiving U.S. origin goods, services, and technology related to aircraft or civil aviation safety, despite an OFAC licensing policy found in the Iranian Transactions Regulations which allows for the export to Iran of U.S. origin goods and services related to Iranian owned, U.S. origin aircraft for the purposes of ensuring the safety of civilian aviation. Export of such goods and services are not licensable to either Iran Air or Mahan Air, due to the fact they are also designated under E.O. 13882. However, yesterday’s designation made me wonder if these new U.S. designations would impact Iran Air’s, Mahan Air’s, and Yas Air’s ability to obtain goods or services to maintain the safety of any of these vessels.

After doing some research it seems that the majority of the designated vessels are not U.S. origin in nature. For example, the following types of aircraft were designated:

1. Aircraft Model A300B4-605R: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company. They are headquartered in France, but have manufacturing plants in France, Spain, China, and Germany.

2. Aircraft Model F.28-0100: This model was built by Fokker the now defunct Dutch aviation company.

3. Aircraft Model IL-76TD: This model was built by Ilyushin which was merged into the larger Russian company, United Aircraft Corporation.

4. Aircraft Model An-74T-200: This model was built by Antonov a Ukranian based aviation company.

5. Aircraft Model An-74TK-200: This model was built by Antonov a Ukranian based aviation company.

6. Aircraft Model B.747SP-86: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

7. Aircraft Model B.747-286B(SCD): This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

8. Aircraft Model B.747-186B: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

9. Aircraft Model A300B4-203: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

10. Aircraft Model A300B4-2C: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

11. Aircraft Model A310-304: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

12. Aircraft Model A310-203: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

13. Aircraft Model A300B2-203: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

14. Aircraft Model B.747-21AC: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

15. Aircraft Model A320-232: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

16. Aircraft Model A320-212: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

17. Aircraft Model A320-211: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

18. Aircraft Model B.707-321C: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

19. Aircraft Model B.707-386C: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

20. Aircraft Model B.727-286: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

21. Aircraft Model MD-82: This model was created by McDonnell Douglas which and is no longer in production. McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997.

22. Aircraft Model A300B2K-3C: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

23. Aircraft Model A300B4-103: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

24. Aircraft Model A320-232: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

25. Aircraft Model B.747-422: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

26. Aircraft Model B747-3B3: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

27. Aircraft Model A300B4-603: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

28. Aircraft Model A310-308: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

29. Aircraft Model B.146-300: This model was built by Boeing, a U.S. based aviation company.

30. Aircraft Model A300B4-622R: This model is built by Airbus which is part of European Aerospace Company.

Of the 30 models identified above only 11 are U.S. origin. As discussed above, goods and services will not be provided to ensure the safe operation of those models because they are owned by Iran Air, Mahan Air, or Yas Air. However, it will be interesting to see how these designations will impact the ability of Iran Air, Mahan Air, or Yas Air to obtain goods and services for the other models described above. Although, the listing of these vessels doesn’t mean they were not blocked under E.O. 13882 prior to their listing, its been my experience that foreign companies deal with Iran related entities or vessels differently once their information actually appears on the OFAC SDN List.

The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in OFAC matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.