II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2167 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 28, 2017 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mr. PERDUE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

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 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘JCPOA’’), 

3 informally known as the Iran nuclear deal, the 

4 Obama administration agreed to license the sale of 

5 commercial passenger aircraft to Iran, the world’s 

6 foremost state sponsor of terrorism and a jurisdic7 tion of primary money laundering concern. 

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

9 JCPOA, Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew, in 

10 publicly advocating for its provisions, stated, ‘‘Make 

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

12 all our available tools, including sanctions, to 

13 counter Iran’s menacing behavior. Iran knows that 

14 our host of sanctions focused on its support for ter15 rorism and its violations of human rights are not, 

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

17 (3) In March 2016 remarks to the Carnegie 

18 Endowment for International Peace, Secretary Lew, 

19 in reference to United States commitments under 

20 the JCPOA, stated, ‘‘While we have lifted the nu21 clear sanctions, we continue to enforce sanctions di22 rected at support for terrorism and regional desta23 bilization, and missile and human rights violations.’’. 

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

25 Foreign Relations, Secretary Lew stated that, under 


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1 the JCPOA, the United States committed to lifting 

2 its nuclear sanctions, ‘‘but the U.S. financial system 

3 is not open to Iran, and that is not something that 

4 is going to change’’. 

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

6 Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (in this 

7 section referred to as ‘‘OFAC’’) issued licenses per8 mitting the export of up to 97 aircraft for use by 

9 Iran Air, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s flagship 

10 state-owned air carrier. These licenses included au11 thorization for United States financial institutions 

12 ‘‘to engage in all transactions necessary to provide 

13 financing or other financial services’’ in order to ef14 fectuate the sales. In November 2016, OFAC li15 censed an additional 106 aircraft for purchase by 

16 Iran Air, which are also eligible for financing au17 thorized by OFAC. 

18 (6) The Department of the Treasury had sanc19 tioned Iran Air in 2011 for its use of commercial 

20 passenger aircraft to transport rockets, missiles, and 

21 other military cargo on behalf of the Islamic Revolu22 tionary Guard Corps (in this section referred to as 

23 the ‘‘IRGC’’) and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and 

24 Armed Forces Logistics, both of which had been des25 ignated under Executive Order 13382 for weapons 


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1 proliferation-related activities. In October 2017, the 

2 IRGC went on to be designated under Executive 

3 Order 13224 for its support of the IRGC-Qods 

4 Force, which has provided support to terrorist 

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

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

7 the air carrier delivered missile or rocket compo8 nents to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, 

9 which like Iran is classified as a state sponsor of ter10 rorism. 

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

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

13 including through the regime’s deployment of chem14 ical weapons and barrel bombs against unarmed ci15 vilians and children. 

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

17 continued to fly known weapons resupply routes to 

18 government-controlled areas of Syria. According to 

19 research by the Foundation for Defense of Democ20 racies, between Implementation Day of the JCPOA 

21 on January 16, 2016, and May 4, 2017, Iran Air 

22 operated at least 134 flights to Syria, which in23 cluded stops in Abadan, Iran, a suspected IRGC 

24 logistical hub for airlifts to the Assad regime. 


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1 (10) In November 2016 correspondence to the 

2 Chairman of the Committee on Financial Services of 

3 the House of Representatives, the Department of the 

4 Treasury noted that the commitment to delist Iran 

5 Air under the JCPOA ‘‘does not affect our ability to 

6 designate, or re-designate, any Iranian airline that 

7 engages in sanctionable activity. The United States 

8 retains the ability to designate any individual or en9 tity that engages in sanctionable activities under our 

10 authorities targeting conduct outside the scope of 

11 the JCPOA, including Iran’s support for terrorism, 

12 human rights abuses, ballistic missile program, and 

13 other destabilizing activities in the region.’’. 

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

15 Aseman Airlines to purchase up to 60 commercial 

16 aircraft, a transaction that would require authoriza17 tion by OFAC. Aseman Airlines’ chief executive offi18 cer, Hossein Alaei, has for decades served as a sen19 ior member of the IRGC. 

20 SEC. 3. CERTIFICATIONS FOR AIRCRAFT-RELATED TRANS21 ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN 

22 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after au24 thorizing a transaction by a United States financial insti25 tution or a foreign financial institution in connection with 


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1 the export or re-export of a commercial passenger aircraft 

2 to Iran (or, for an authorization made after January 16, 

3 2016, but before the date of the enactment of this Act, 

4 not later than 60 days after such date of enactment), and 

5 every 180 days thereafter for the duration of the author6 ization, the Secretary shall submit a report described in 

7 subsection (b) to the appropriate congressional commit8 tees. 

9 (b) REPORT WITH RESPECT TO FINANCIAL INSTITU10 TIONS’ IRAN-RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DUE DILI11 GENCE.—A report described in this subsection is a report 

12 that contains— 

13 (1) a list of financial institutions that, after 

14 January 16, 2016, have conducted transactions au15 thorized by the Secretary in connection with the ex16 port or re-export of commercial passenger aircraft to 

17 Iran; and 

18 (2) with respect to the transaction by a finan19 cial institution described in subsection (a), either— 

20 (A) a certification that— 

21 (i) the transaction does not pose a 

22 significant money laundering or terrorism 

23 financing risk to the United States finan24 cial system; 


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1 (ii) the transaction will not benefit an 

2 Iranian person that, since the date that is 

3 one year preceding the date of the certifi4 cation— 

5 (I) has knowingly transported 

6 items used for the proliferation of 

7 weapons of mass destruction, includ8 ing systems designed in whole or in 

9 part for the delivery of such weapons; 

10 or 

11 (II) has knowingly provided 

12 transportation services or material 

13 support for, or on behalf of, any per14 son designated under— 

15 (aa) Executive Order 13224 

16 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to 

17 blocking property and prohibiting 

18 transactions with persons who 

19 commit, threaten to commit, or 

20 support terrorism); 

21 (bb) Executive Order 13382 

22 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to 

23 blocking property of weapons of 

24 mass destruction delivery system 


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1 proliferators and their sup2 porters); or 

3 (cc) Executive Order 13572 

4 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to 

5 blocking property of certain per6 sons with respect to human 

7 rights abuses in Syria); and 

8 (iii) any financial institution described 

9 in paragraph (1) has had since the date 

10 such authorization was made, or, if the au11 thorization is no longer in effect, had for 

12 the duration of such authorization, appro13 priate policies, procedures, and processes 

14 in place to avoid engaging in sanctionable 

15 activities that may result from the finan16 cial institution’s exposure to Iran; or 

17 (B) a statement that the Secretary is un18 able to make the certification described in sub19 paragraph (A) and a notice that the Secretary 

20 will, not later than 60 days after the date the 

21 determination is submitted to the appropriate 

22 congressional committees, submit a report on 

23 non-certification described in subsection (c) to 

24 the appropriate congressional committees. 


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1 (c) REPORT ON NON-CERTIFICATION.—A report on 

2 non-certification described in this subsection is a report 

3 with respect to a transaction by a financial institution de4 scribed in subsection (a) that contains— 

5 (1) a detailed explanation for why the Secretary 

6 is unable to make the certification described under 

7 subsection (b)(2)(A) with respect to the transaction; 

8 (2) a notification of whether the Secretary 

9 will— 

10 (A) not amend the authorization of the 

11 transaction with respect to the financial institu12 tion, notwithstanding such non-certification; 

13 (B) suspend the authorization until the 

14 Secretary is able to make such certification; 

15 (C) revoke the authorization; or 

16 (D) otherwise amend the authorization; 

17 and 

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

19 to be taken described in paragraph (2). 

20 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive, on a case21 by-case basis, the provisions of this section for up to one 

22 year at a time upon certifying to the appropriate congres23 sional committees that— 

24 (1) the Government of Iran has— 


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1 (A) made substantial progress towards 

2 combating money laundering and terrorism fi3 nancing risk emanating from Iran; or 

4 (B) significantly reduced Iran’s— 

5 (i) destabilizing activities in the re6 gion; or 

7 (ii) material support for terrorist 

8 groups; or 

9 (2) such waiver is important to the national se10 curity interests of the United States, with an expla11 nation of the reasons therefor. 

12 (e) TERMINATION.—This section shall cease to be ef13 fective on the date that is 30 days after the date on which 

14 the President certifies to the appropriate congressional 

15 committees that— 

16 (1)(A) the Secretary does not find, under sec17 tion 5318A of title 31, United States Code, that rea18 sonable grounds exist for concluding that Iran is a 

19 jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern; 

20 and 

21 (B) Iran has ceased providing support for acts 

22 of international terrorism; or 

23 (2) terminating the provisions of this section is 

24 vital to the national security interests of the United 

25 States, with an explanation of the reasons therefor. 


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1 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT3 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com4 mittees’’ means— 

5 (A) the Committee on Financial Services 

6 and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

7 House of Representatives; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

9 and Urban Affairs and the Committee on For10 eign 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 in section 561.308 of title 31, Code 

17 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’’ in section 561.309 of title 31, Code of Federal 

5 Regulations. 

Æ 


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