A little less than ten (10) days ago, the Joint Plan of Action which outlined the deal struck between Iran and the West over Iran’s highly disputed nuclear program was announced. As the social media websites lit up with articles about the deal that had been reached, we started getting a flood of calls at our office. There were a number of questions about this new deal, too many to be answered in one blog post, so I wanted to set out some of the most relevant points that those concerning themselves with this “deal” should understand.

1. There is no deal yet. Yes, I do understand that there is a document called the Joint Plan of Action and that it highlights who should do what. However, Iran has to perform a number of steps prior to the implementation of the sanctions relief portion of the deal. It is my understanding that the E3+3 will not set about implementing sanctions relief until such time as Iran has either undertaken the first steps outlined in the Joint Plan of Action or until such time as Iran has demonstrated their commitment to doing so. Until that time no sanctions relief has been or will be granted.

2. The devil is in the details. And there are no details yet. This is probably the biggest misunderstanding about the sanctions relief. There are a lot of prognosticators talking about how the deal impacts sanctions targeting Iran. The problem is, however, that the details of how this relief will look have not been worked out yet. That means no one, not in the U.S., Europe, Iran, or anywhere else in the world, knows what the relief will look like exactly. The Joint Plan does provide in a broad sense what the sanctions relief should entail, however, the manner and the extent to which those sanctions will be eased has not been determined.Technical experts will provide guidance once these details have been decided.

3. Suspension of sanctions. There is some language in the Joint Plan of Action which suggests a suspension on sanctions on Iran for certain sectors of economic activity, for example, the auto industry. However, this does not mean a removal of sanctions on the prohibitions of directly exporting certain goods, services, and technologies. What is more likely envisioned is that the U.S. will withhold designations against foreign parties engaged in trade with Iran related to those specific sectors. This would in reality be a suspension of secondary sanctions, as opposed to a suspension of primary sanctions, on those sectors.

As you can see from the above, the deal is far from consummated, and there is a lot of ambiguity surrounding what impact it will actually have on those seeking to transact with Iran once it is implemented. It would be wise to hold off on all proposed transactions with Iran that were made in light of this “deal” until such time as the details become more clear and its determined that an actual deal will occur.