As is clear by now, the nuclear agreement between the United States, other major world powers, and Iran will herald only minor relief to the comprehensive U.S. trade and investment embargo with Iran. This continues to surprise many that I speak to, but most sanctions relief will be and was always intended to be secondary in nature – meaning, it will be geared towards the activities of non-U.S. persons vis-à-vis Iran and will have little to say about the activities of U.S. persons engaged in trade-related dealings with Iran or Iranian parties.

A plain reading of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) evidences that there will be only three specific areas where the U.S. will relieve parts of its trade embargo with Iran. These three areas include: (1) (specific) license authorization for the sale of civilian aircraft and related aircraft parts to Iran; (2) (general) license authorization for foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies to engage in certain trade-related dealings with Iran or Iranian parties; and (3) (general) license authorization for the importation of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs.

As to the first two license authorizations, we still know preciously little. While some hold out hope that GL authorization for foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies will be sufficiently broad to make it practically workable (including, perhaps, allowance for certain kinds of facilitation by U.S. persons), OFAC has remained officially discreet as to the precise contours of the pending license authorization. Similarly, the logistics of the pending specific license authorization for the sale of civilian aircraft and related parts to Iran remains somewhat opaque, though we do know that there will be tough restrictive conditions placed on any specific license granted to an applicant.

However, we do know quite a bit about the GL authorization for the importation of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs. That’s because such GL authorization is an old friend to those of us long invested in the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“ITSR”), 31 C.F.R. Part 560, having been formerly codified at 31 C.F.R. § 560.534(a) starting April 28, 2000 and continuing in effect until September 29, 2010.

Back in March 2000, the Clinton Administration invited a political opening to Iran by unilaterally relieving certain sanctions relating to its trade embargo with Iran. This included sanctions relief on the importation into the United States of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs – the latter, most notably, including pistachios and saffron. Such change in policy was first announced by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in an important speech on U.S.-Iran relations that same month.

On April 26, 2000, OFAC published a general license authorizing the importation into the United States of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs at 31 C.F.R. § 560.534, as well as certain transactions or dealings in or related to these Iranian goods. Moreover, OFAC provided license authorization at 31 C.F.R. § 560.535 for U.S. depository institutions to issue letters of credit and offer brokering services relating to Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs under certain restrictive conditions.

For more than a decade, GL authorization for the importation into the United States of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs continued in effect until Congress passed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Divestment Act (“CISADA”) in 2010. § 103 of CISADA effectively codified the U.S. trade and investment embargo with Iran. In doing so, § 103(d) of CISADA authorized the President to issue “regulatory exceptions” to its broad import and export ban with Iran, barring an exception for the “commercial importation of an Iranian origin good described in [31 C.F.R. § 560.534(a)]…unless the President prescribes a regulation providing for such an exception on or after the date of the enactment of this Act…” Unwilling to challenge Congress on this issue, President Obama accepted the effective repeal of the GL authorization for the importation of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs and the GL authorization located at 31 C.F.R. § 560.534 was excised in whole from the ITSR.

Since September 2010, 31 C.F.R. § 560.534 has been held in reserve. With good reason, too, since the space left unoccupied will likely soon be filled once again as soon as Iran implements its key nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA and the U.S. issues GL authorization for the importation of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs.

Fortunately, this is one pending license authorization to the ITSR whose ultimate contours we can accurately predict.   Absent any surprises, the expectation is that OFAC will largely replicate its previous license authorization at 31 C.F.R. § 560.534 to permit U.S. persons to import Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs. If you want to take an early look at what the pending GL authorization will look like, then, I suggest dusting off some of the old Code books and take a look at 31 C.F.R. § 560.534 when it did more than act as placeholder under the ITSR.