the list of specially designated nationals and blocked 
persons (in this section referred to as the ‘‘SDN 
list’’). 
(10) Pursuant to section 561.405 of title 31, 
Code of Federal Regulations, entities owned by the 
IRGC, directly or indirectly, with 50 percent or 
greater interest are subject to sanctions and may be 
listed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on the 
SDN list. Such entities’ property and interest in 
property are blocked regardless of whether such enti-
ties are included on the SDN List. That regulation, 
commonly termed the ‘‘50 percent rule’’, is the 
standard used by the Office of Foreign Assets Con-
trol when determining ownership of entities by 
blocked or sanctioned persons. 
(11) Under section 218 of the Iran Threat Re-
duction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 
U.S.C. 8725), the term ‘‘own or control’’, with re-
spect to an entity, means— 
(A) holding more than 50 percent of the 
equity interest by vote or value in the entity; 
(B) holding a majority of seats on the 
board of directors of the entity; or 
(C) otherwise controlling the actions, poli-
cies, or personnel decisions of the entity. 
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(12) The IRGC maintains a powerful and ex-
pansive presence throughout Iran’s financial, com-
mercial, and oil and energy sectors, owning, control-
ling, operating, and influencing Iranian entities 
while producing revenues estimated in the billions of 
dollars. According to the Department of the Treas-
ury, ‘‘The IRGC has a growing presence in Iran’s fi-
nancial and commercial sectors and extensive eco-
nomic interests in the defense production, construc-
tion, and oil industries, controlling billions of dollars 
in corporate business.’’. 
(13) The IRGC has continuously engaged in 
sanctions evasion and deceptive business practices to 
conceal its ownership or control of Iranian entities, 
owning numerous Iranian entities that are not sub-
ject to sanctions because the IRGC has less than a 
50-percent ownership interest, leaving such entities 
unsanctioned and open to business. 
(14) As sanctions are lifted pursuant to the 
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Iran be-
comes more open to international commerce, the 
international community must be aware of any and 
all entities that are owned, controlled, operated, or 
influenced by the IRGC or its agents or affiliates, 
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including those entities that do not make the thresh-
old to be covered by the ‘‘50 percent rule’’. 
(15) There is no prohibition in section 219 of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1189) that prevents the Secretary of State from des-
ignating entities affiliated with the government of a 
foreign country as a foreign terrorist organization. 
(16) The Financial Crimes Enforcement Net-
work of the Department of the Treasury issued a 
notice of proposed rulemaking on August 4, 2014 
(79 Fed. Reg. 45151; relating to customer due dili-
gence requirements for financial institutions), pro-
posing to amend chapter X of title 31, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations, to provide greater transparency to 
allow the identification of persons that own, control, 
and profit from entities to which banks and other fi-
nancial institutions provide services. The proposed 
rule, known also as the ‘‘beneficial ownership re-
quirement’’, would require financial institutions to 
identify and verify any individual who owns 25 per-
cent or more of an entity that is a customer and an 
individual who controls such an entity. 
(17) David Cohen, at the time Under Secretary 
of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intel-
ligence, stated on July 30, 2014, ‘‘The beneficial 
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ownership requirement is intended to provide us 
with an important new tool to track down the real 
people behind companies that abuse our financial 
system to secretly move and launder their illicit 
gains. Along with meeting our international commit-
ments, this rule would make our financial system 
more transparent by exposing the activities of illicit 
actors who will no longer be able to hide behind 
their anonymity.’’. 
(18) On October 12, 2011, the Department of 
the Treasury imposed sanctions on Mahan Air for 
providing financial, material, and technological sup-
port to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods 
Force. The Department of the Treasury noted that 
Mahan Air also provides transportation, funds trans-
fers, and personal travel services to Iran’s Revolu-
tionary Guards Corps-Qods Force. The Department 
of the Treasury further noted that Mahan Air pro-
vides transportation services to Hezbollah, which 
was designated as a Specially Designated Global 
Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 
1701 note; relating to blocking property and prohib-
iting transactions with persons who commit, threat-
en to commit, or support terrorism) in October 
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2001, and Mahan Air has transported personnel, 
weapons, and goods on behalf of Hezbollah. 
(19) David Cohen, at the time Under Secretary 
of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intel-
ligence, stated on October 12, 2011, ‘‘Mahan Air’s 
close coordination with [Iran’s Revolutionary Guards 
Corps-Qods Force (IRGC–QF)]—secretly ferrying 
operatives, weapons and funds on its flights—reveals 
yet another facet of the IRGC’s extensive infiltration 
of Iran’s commercial sector to facilitate its support 
for terrorism. Following the revelation about the 
IRGC–QF’s use of the international financial system 
to fund its murder-for-hire plot, today’s action high-
lights further the undeniable risks of doing business 
with Iran.’’. 
SEC. 102. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 
THE IRGC. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi-
dent shall impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) 
with respect to the IRGC and foreign persons that are 
officials, agents, or affiliates of the IRGC. 
(b) SANCTIONS
DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de-
scribed in this subsection are the following: 
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(1) Sanctions applicable with respect to a for-
eign person pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (50 
U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and 
prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, 
threaten to commit, or support terrorism). 
(2) Sanctions applicable with respect to an enti-
ty that is designated as a foreign terrorist organiza-
tion under section 219 of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). 
SEC. 103. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS AGAINST ENTITIES 
OWNED IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY THE IRGC. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 
sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to— 
(1) an entity, regardless of whether the entity 
is included on the list of specially designated nation-
als and blocked persons maintained by the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the 
Treasury, that is owned, directly or indirectly, by a 
25 percent or greater interest— 
(A) by the IRGC or an agent or affiliate 
of the IRGC; or 
(B) collectively by a group of individuals 
that are members of the IRGC or an agent or 
affiliate of the IRGC, even if none of such indi-
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viduals hold a 25 percent or greater interest in 
the entity; 
(2) a person that controls, manages, or directs 
an entity described in paragraph (1); or 
(3) an individual who is on the board of direc-
tors of an entity described in paragraph (1). 
(b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 
(1) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The President 
shall block, in accordance with the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 
et seq.), all transactions in all property and interests 
in property of any person subject to subsection (a) 
if such property and interests in property are in the 
United States, come within the United States, or are 
or come within the possession or control of a United 
States person. 
(2) EXCLUSION
FROM
UNITED
STATES.—The 
Secretary of State shall deny a visa to, and the Sec-
retary of Homeland Security shall exclude from the 
United States, any person subject to subsection (a) 
that is an alien. 
(c) EXCEPTIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 
(1) INAPPLICABILITY
OF
NATIONAL
EMER-
GENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of section 
202 of the International Emergency Economic Pow-
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ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for pur-
poses of subsection (b)(1). 
(2) COMPLIANCE WITH UNITED NATIONS HEAD-
QUARTERS
AGREEMENT.—Subsection (b)(2) shall 
not apply to the head of state of Iran, or necessary 
staff of that head of state, if admission to the 
United States is necessary to permit the United 
States to comply with the Agreement regarding the 
Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 
Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force No-
vember 21, 1947, between the United Nations and 
the United States. 
(d) APPLICABILITY OF ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS.—A 
person with respect to which the President imposes sanc-
tions under subsection (a) shall be considered an agent 
or affiliate of the IRGC for purposes of sections 104 and 
104A of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Account-
ability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8513 and 
8513b). 
SEC. 104. IRGC WATCH LIST AND REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall establish, maintain, and publish in the Federal Reg-
ister a list (to be known as the ‘‘IRGC Watch List’’) of— 
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(1) each entity in which the IRGC or an agent 
or affiliate of the IRGC has an ownership interest 
of less than 25 percent; 
(2) each entity in which the IRGC does not 
have an ownership interest if the IRGC or an agent 
or affiliate of the IRGC maintains a presence on the 
board of directors of the entity or otherwise influ-
ences the actions, policies, or personnel decisions of 
the entity; and 
(3) each person that controls, manages, or di-
rects an entity described in paragraph (1) or (2). 
(b) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 
(1) TREASURY REPORT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Treas-
ury shall submit to Congress a report that in-
cludes— 
(i) the list required by subsection (a) 
and, in the case of any report submitted 
under this subparagraph after the first 
such report, any changes to the list since 
the submission of the preceding such re-
port; and 
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(ii) an assessment of the role of the 
IRGC and its agents and affiliates in, and 
its penetration into, the economy of Iran. 
(B) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report re-
quired by subparagraph (A) shall be submitted 
in unclassified form, but may include a classi-
fied annex if necessary. 
(2) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE-
PORT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States shall— 
(i) conduct a review of the list re-
quired by subsection (a); and 
(ii) not later than 60 days after each 
report required by paragraph (1) is sub-
mitted to Congress, submit to Congress a 
report— 
(I) on the review conducted 
under clause (i); and 
(II) that includes a list of per-
sons not included in the list required 
by subsection (a) that qualify for in-
clusion in that list. 
(B) CONSULTATIONS.—In preparing the 
report required by subparagraph (A)(ii), the 
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