I’m still playing catch up on the flurry of activity which came out of the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) last week. In addition to the Frequently Asked Questions on Section 504 of the Iranian Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Iran-TRA), and OFAC’s guidance for financial institutions facilitating funds transfers related to humanitarian transactions, OFAC also designated a number of entities and one individual pursuant to the Iran-TRA. OFAC believes those designated to have been engaged in Iran’s censorship activities.

The effect of these designations, made pursuant to Executive Order 13628 which implemented the Iran-TRA, is to block any assets belonging to these designated parties and to prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in most types of transactions with them. According to the Treasury’s press release, the designated parties, particularly Ezzatollah Zarghami, have been involved in the blocking of Western satellite broadcasts which show news reports disapproved of by the Iranian government. In addition, Treasury cited that Zarghami has openly admitted to using such jamming tactics. Finally, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Company (“IRIB”) is accused of airing false confessions and show trials in contravention of international law. Specifically, Treasury cited to the case of Maziar Bahari, who was forced to give a false confession from prison in Iran in 2009.

These designations have been a long time in the coming. Even before the enactment of the Iran-TRA or the issuance of Executive Order 13628, the U.S. government had threatened imposition of sanctions for these types of activities. Indeed, the authority seems to have already been in place to make these designations under the Grave Human Rights Abuses Via Information Technology (“GHRAVITY”) or the Iran Human Rights Abuses Sanctions. In addition, there have been a number of recent public discussions regarding Iran’s use of media to suppress political dissent in that country, a phenomenon people are referring to as the “electronic curtain”. It was only a matter of time before Iran’s media caught the wrath of U.S. economic sanctions.

Now that IRIB has been formally designated, OFAC will likely designate one of its most well known channels, Press TV. OFAC is intimately aware that Press TV has in the past sought out reporters in the United States to serve as correspondents. Indeed, Press TV even showcases its U.S. desk on its website. From my knowledge, none of those who sought OFAC licenses were granted licenses to work with Press TV, but there are a number of U.S. persons currently serving as Press TV news correspondents or free lance journalists submitting stories to Press TV. It is likely that OFAC will begin looking at that staffs of various IRIB affiliated companies and channels and those providing services to either IRIB or Press TV will be subpoenaed and could face enforcement action.

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@ferrariassociatespc.com.