Amidst the hoopla that has accompanied the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, OFAC wants to make sure that U.S. persons take away this one fact: excepting a few certain newly-authorized activities, U.S. persons continue to be prohibited from engaging in most trade-related transactions or other dealings with Iran.

This message is repeated time and again in the materials that OFAC released this past weekend, most particularly its Guidance and its series of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”). Far removed from the ambiguities in which it has operated so well, OFAC took the time and effort to be perfectly clear on this very point, as a quick tour of the Guidance and FAQs demonstrates.

Right off the bat, OFAC states in its Guidance Relating to the Lifting of Certain U.S. Sanctions Pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Implementation Day:

With the exception of the three categories of activities described [in the JCPOA]…none of the sanctions-related commitments outlined in this guidance apply to U.S. persons, and U.S. persons, including U.S. companies, continue to be broadly prohibited from engaging in transactions or dealings with Iran and the Government of Iran unless such activities are exempt from regulation or authorized by OFAC.

A few pages later, OFAC summarily repeats the same point: “The sanctions-related commitments described in the JCPOA are directed towards non-U.S. persons, and except for the commitments described in § 5 of Annex II of the JCPOA, do not apply to U.S. persons.”

OFAC’s Frequently Asked Questions Relating to the Lifting of Certain U.S. Sanctions Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Implementation Day reiterates these same points. FAQ A.3 states that “[t]he U.S. domestic trade embargo on Iran remains in place. Even after Implementation Day, with limited exceptions, U.S. persons – including U.S. companies – continue to be broadly prohibited from engaging in transactions or dealings with Iran or its government.” Furthermore, “U.S. persons continue to be broadly prohibited from engaging in transactions or dealings with the Government of Iran and Iranian financial institutions, with the exception of transactions that are exempt from regulation or authorized by OFAC.”

FAQ A.5 copies the point, stating that “post-Implementation Day, U.S. persons continue to be generally prohibited from engaging in transactions or dealings involving Iran, including the Government of Iran and Iranian financial institutions, with the exception of specific activities that are exempt from regulation or authorized by OFAC, including the three categories of activity that the United States committed to licensing [pursuant to the JCPOA].” Providing a small glimmer of light for U.S. persons interested in Iran-related trade, OFAC also notes, in this same paragraph, that “U.S. persons continue to be authorized to undertake a range of activities involving Iran pursuant to general licenses issued by OFAC, including for example the longstanding authorization for exports to Iran of agricultural commodities (including food), medicine, and medical supplies.”

Two FAQs later, however, OFAC is once again spelling out the sanctions prohibitions that remain as to the conduct of U.S. persons and entities vis-à-vis Iran, particularly any provision of services to Iran or Iranian parties:

As a general matter, U.S. persons are prohibited from providing associated services in connection with activities involving Iran; however, they may be authorized by OFAC to provide such services in connection with activities authorized pursuant to a specific license, such as for exports of commercial passenger aircraft and related parts and services covered by the commitments in §§ 5.1.1 of Annex II and 17.5 of Annex V of the JCPOA…or under a general license, such as that for the importation of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs into the United States pursuant to the commitment in §§ 5.1.3 of Annex II and 17.5 of Annex V of the JCPOA.

Nor is OFAC satisfied in generalities. Indeed, OFAC goes step-by-step through all the newly permissible conduct for which non-U.S. persons can now engage and clarifies at each turn that U.S. persons are barred from engagement in the same conduct. Moreover, OFAC specifically poses questions related to whether U.S. persons can engage in certain activities with Iran and answers them in its own matter-of-fact manner.

Exporting goods or services to Iran?

Nope, FAQ M.9 states that “U.S. persons continue to be broadly prohibited from exporting any goods, services, or technology directly or indirectly to Iran, with the exception of transactions that are exempt from regulation or authorized by OFAC.”

Exporting goods via third-parties to Iran?

Nope, FAQ M.9 also notes that “the ITSR generally prohibits the exportation…of any goods, technology, or services, from the [U.S.] or by a U.S. person to a person in a third country undertaken with knowledge or reason to know that such goods, technology, or services are intended specifically for supply…to Iran or the Government of Iran.”

What if you’re an Iranian citizen who either holds U.S. citizenship or is based in the United States?

Nope, FAQ M.1 states that both Iranian citizens who are U.S. permanent residents or dual U.S.-Iranian citizens located anywhere in the world are barred from conducting business or trading with Iranian companies or operating a business in Iran.

How about if you are a U.S. person who works abroad in a foreign entity interested in engaging with Iran?

FAQ K.8 clarifies that such a U.S. person “remain[s] prohibited from engaging in or facilitating transactions or dealings involving Iran that are not exempt from regulation or authorized by OFAC.” Regardless of whether the foreign entity is determined to be U.S.-owned or –controlled or not, U.S. persons are prohibited from “involvement…in the Iran-related day-to-day operations” of the foreign entity, as that would constitute prohibited facilitation pursuant to current U.S. sanctions regulations.

None of this should come as a surprise to those following the sanctions component of the nuclear accord. These prohibitions have been with us two decades and counting (the prohibition on the import of most Iranian-origin goods or services even longer!), and the Obama administration was clear from the get-go that it would not lift the U.S.’s unilateral trade embargo with Iran as part of any potential nuclear agreement.

However, those who do not follow OFAC’s work religiously but are tuned into the past week’s events should be forgiven for thinking that all U.S. sanctions on Iran have been lifted and they are free to pursue trade-related or other dealings with Iran or Iranian parties. It is for those people that OFAC is putting up a giant CAUTION sign: U.S. persons remain prohibited from engaging in most Iran-related transactions or dealings post-Implementation Day.