I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4324 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to make certifications with respect 

to United States and foreign financial institutions’ aircraft-related transactions involving Iran, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2017 

Mr. WILLIAMS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to make certifications with respect to United States and foreign financial institutions’ aircraft-related transactions involving 

Iran, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Over5 sight of Iran’s Access to Finance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Ac2 tion (JCPOA), informally known as the Iran nuclear 

3 deal, the Obama administration agreed to license the 

4 sale of commercial passenger aircraft to Iran, the 

5 world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism and a ju6 risdiction of primary money laundering concern. 

7 (2) In April 2015, prior to the adoption of the 

8 JCPOA, Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew, in 

9 publicly advocating for its provisions, stated: ‘‘Make 

10 no mistake: deal or no deal, we will continue to use 

11 all our available tools, including sanctions, to 

12 counter Iran’s menacing behavior. Iran knows that 

13 our host of sanctions focused on its support for ter14 rorism and its violations of human rights are not, 

15 and have never been, up for discussion.’’. 

16 (3) In March 2016 remarks to the Carnegie 

17 Endowment for International Peace, Secretary Lew, 

18 in reference to U.S. commitments under the 

19 JCPOA, stated: ‘‘While we have lifted the nuclear 

20 sanctions, we continue to enforce sanctions directed 

21 at support for terrorism and regional destabilization, 

22 and missile and human rights violations.’’. 

23 (4) In an April 2016 forum at the Council on 

24 Foreign Relations, Secretary Lew stated that, under 

25 the JCPOA, the U.S. committed to lifting its nuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Nov 13, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4324.IH H4324

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1 clear sanctions, ‘‘but the U.S. financial system is not 

2 open to Iran, and that is not something that is going 

3 to change’’. 

4 (5) In September 2016, the Department of the 

5 Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) 

6 issued licenses permitting the export of up to 97 air7 craft for use by Iran Air, the Islamic Republic of 

8 Iran’s flagship state-owned carrier. These licenses 

9 included authorization for U.S. financial institutions 

10 ‘‘to engage in all transactions necessary to provide 

11 financing or other financial services’’ in order to ef12 fectuate the sales. In November 2016, OFAC li13 censed an additional 106 aircraft for purchase by 

14 Iran Air, which are also eligible for financing au15 thorized by OFAC. 

16 (6) The Department of the Treasury had sanc17 tioned Iran Air in 2011 for its use of commercial 

18 passenger aircraft to transport rockets, missiles, and 

19 other military cargo on behalf of the Islamic Revolu20 tionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Ministry of 

21 Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, both of which 

22 had been designated under Executive Order 13382 

23 for weapons proliferation-related activities. In Octo24 ber 2017, the IRGC went on to be designated under 

25 Executive Order 13224 for its support of the IRGCVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Nov 13, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4324.IH H4324

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1 Qods Force, which has provided support to terrorist 

2 groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, and the Taliban. 

3 (7) Among Iran Air’s sanctionable activities, 

4 the airline delivered missile or rocket components to 

5 the Assad government in Syria, which like Iran is 

6 classified as a state sponsor terrorism. 

7 (8) The Assad regime is responsible for a civil 

8 conflict that has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives, 

9 including through the government’s deployment of 

10 chemical weapons and barrel bombs against un11 armed civilians and children. 

12 (9) Despite being delisted in 2016, Iran Air has 

13 continued to fly known weapons resupply routes to 

14 government-controlled areas of Syria. According to 

15 research by the Foundation for Defense of Democ16 racies, between Implementation Day of the JCPOA 

17 on January 16, 2016 and May 4, 2017, Iran Air op18 erated at least 134 flights to Syria, which included 

19 stops in Abadan, Iran, a suspected IRGC logistical 

20 hub for airlifts to the Assad regime. 

21 (10) In November 2016 correspondence to the 

22 Chairman of the House Committee on Financial 

23 Services, the Department of the Treasury noted that 

24 the commitment to delist Iran Air under the JCPOA 

25 ‘‘does not affect our ability to designate, or re-desVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Nov 13, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4324.IH H4324

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1 ignate, any Iranian airline that engages in 

2 sanctionable activity. The United States retains the 

3 ability to designate any individual or entity that en4 gages in sanctionable activities under our authorities 

5 targeting conduct outside the scope of the JCPOA, 

6 including Iran’s support for terrorism, human rights 

7 abuses, ballistic missile program, and other desta8 bilizing activities in the region.’’. 

9 (11) In April 2017, Iran announced a deal for 

10 Aseman Airlines to purchase up to 60 commercial 

11 aircraft, a transaction that would require authoriza12 tion by OFAC. Aseman Airlines’ chief executive offi13 cer, Hossein Alaei, has for decades served as a sen14 ior member of the IRGC. 

15 SEC. 3. CERTIFICATIONS FOR AIRCRAFT-RELATED TRANS16 ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN 

17 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after au19 thorizing a transaction by a United States or foreign fi20 nancial institution in connection with the export or re-ex21 port of a commercial passenger aircraft to Iran (or, for 

22 an authorization made after January 16, 2016 but before 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, not later than 60 

24 days after such date of enactment), and every 180 days 

25 thereafter for the duration of the authorization, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Nov 13, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4324.IH H4324

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1 retary of the Treasury shall submit the report described 

2 under subsection (b) to the appropriate congressional com3 mittees. 

4 (b) REPORT WITH RESPECT TO FINANCIAL INSTITU5 TIONS’ IRAN-RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DUE DILI6 GENCE.—With respect to a financial institution and a 

7 transaction described under subsection (a), a report is de8 scribed under this subsection if it contains— 

9 (1) a list of financial institutions that, since 

10 January 16, 2016, have conducted transactions au11 thorized by the Secretary in connection with the ex12 port or re-export of commercial passenger aircraft to 

13 Iran; 

14 (2) either— 

15 (A) a certification that— 

16 (i) the transaction does not pose a 

17 significant money laundering or terrorism 

18 financing risk to the United States finan19 cial system; 

20 (ii) the transaction will not benefit an 

21 Iranian person that, since the date that is 

22 one year preceding the date of the certifi23 cation— 

24 (I) has knowingly transported 

25 items used for the proliferation of 


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1 weapons of mass destruction, includ2 ing systems designed in whole or in 

3 part for the delivery of such weapons; 

4 or 

5 (II) has knowingly provided 

6 transportation services or material 

7 support for, or on behalf of, any per8 son designated under Executive Or9 ders 13224, 13382, or 13572; and 

10 (iii) any financial institution described 

11 under subsection (b)(1) has had since the 

12 date such authorization was made, or, if 

13 the authorization is no longer in effect, 

14 had for the duration of such authorization, 

15 appropriate policies, procedures, and proc16 esses in place to avoid engaging in 

17 sanctionable activities that may result from 

18 the financial institutions’ exposure to Iran; 

19 or 

20 (B) a statement that the Secretary is un21 able to make the certification described under 

22 subparagraph (A) and a notice that the Sec23 retary will, not later than 60 days after the 

24 date the determination is submitted to the ap25 propriate congressional committees, issue a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Nov 13, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4324.IH H4324

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1 port on non-certification described under sub2 section (c) to the appropriate congressional 

3 committees. 

4 (c) REPORT ON NON-CERTIFICATION.—With respect 

5 to a financial institution and a transaction described 

6 under subsection (a), a report on non-certification is de7 scribed under this subsection if it contains— 

8 (1) a detailed explanation for why the Secretary 

9 is unable to make the certification described under 

10 subsection (b)(2); 

11 (2) a notification of whether the Secretary 

12 will— 

13 (A) not amend the authorization of the 

14 transaction with respect to a financial institu15 tion, notwithstanding such non-certification; 

16 (B) suspend the authorization until the 

17 Secretary is able to make such certification; 

18 (C) revoke the authorization; or 

19 (D) otherwise amend the authorization; 

20 and 

21 (3) an explanation of the reasons for any action 

22 to be taken described under paragraph (2). 

23 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive, on a case24 by-case basis, the provisions of this Act for up to one year 


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1 at a time upon certifying to the appropriate congressional 

2 committees that— 

3 (1) the Government of Iran has— 

4 (A) made substantial progress towards 

5 combating money laundering and terrorism fi6 nancing risk emanating from Iran; or 

7 (B) has significantly reduced Iran’s— 

8 (i) destabilizing activities in the re9 gion; or 

10 (ii) material support for terrorist 

11 groups; or 

12 (2) such waiver is important to the national se13 curity interests of the United States, with an expla14 nation of the reasons therefor. 

15 (e) TERMINATION.—This section shall cease to be ef16 fective on the date that is 30 days after the date on which 

17 the President certifies to the appropriate congressional 

18 committees that— 

19 (1)(A) the Secretary does not find, under sec20 tion 5318A of title 31, United States Code, that rea21 sonable grounds exist for concluding that Iran is a 

22 jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern; 

23 and 

24 (B) Iran has ceased providing support for acts 

25 of international terrorism; or 


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1 (2) terminating the provisions of this section is 

2 vital to the national security interests of the United 

3 States, with an explanation of the reasons therefor. 

4 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means the committees on Financial Serv8 ices and Foreign Affairs of the House of Represent9 atives and the committees on Banking, Housing, and 

10 Urban Affairs and Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

11 (2) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi12 nancial institution’’ means a United States financial 

13 institution or a foreign financial institution. 

14 (3) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The 

15 term ‘‘foreign financial institution’’ has the meaning 

16 given that term under section 561.308 of title 31, 

17 Code of Federal Regulations. 

18 (4) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’ with 

19 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 

20 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

21 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 

22 result. 

23 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of the Treasury. 


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1 (6) UNITED STATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.— 

2 The term ‘‘United States financial institution’’ has 

3 the meaning given the term ‘‘U.S. financial institu4 tion’’ under section 561.309 of title 31, Code of 

5 Federal Regulations. 

Æ 


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