No U.S. Financing for Iran Act of 2022

Bill: 117-hr-7402
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-2]
Introduced: 2022-04-05
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Energy
Latest action: action_date: 2022-04-05
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-04-05
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>No U.S. Financing for Iran Act of 2022</strong></p> <p>This bill prohibits certain actions related to exports, imports, and financing with respect to Iran.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill prohibits the Department of the Treasury from authorizing U.S. financial institution transactions in connection with the importation from or exportation to Iran of goods, services, or technology. This prohibition does not apply to the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices benefitting the civilian population of Iran.</p> <p>The bill requires Treasury to instruct U.S. representatives to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to (1) oppose IMF financial assistance, and the allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR), to Iran; and (2) seek to ensure that IMF member countries prohibit the exchange of SDR held by Iran. (The SDR is an international reserve asset maintained by the IMF based on contributions from IMF member countries. SDRs may be exchanged between member countries and may also be exchanged for currencies.)</p> <p>Further, the bill provides statutory authority for the prohibition on Export-Import Bank financing with respect to Iran.</p> <p>The bill's provisions shall be in effect until the earlier of (1) 30 days after the President certifies to Congress that Iran has ceased providing support for acts of international terrorism and is not a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern, (2) 30 days after Treasury reports to Congress that termination of the provisions is necessary to comply with treaties ratified by the United States, or (3) 10 years after this bill's enactment.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7402 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 5, 2022 Mr. Huizenga introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from authorizing certain transactions by a United States financial institution in connection with Iran, to prevent the International Monetary Fund from providing financial assistance to Iran, to codify prohibitions on Export-Import Bank financing for the Government of Iran, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the No U.S. Financing for Iran Act of 2022 . 2. Findings The Congress finds as follows: (1) In an April 2016 forum at the Council on Foreign Relations, then-Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew stated that, under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States committed to lifting its nuclear sanctions, but the U.S. financial system is not open to Iran, and that is not something that is going to change . (2) In September 2016, however, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued licenses authorizing United States financial institutions to engage in all transactions necessary to provide financing or other financial services in order to effectuate the sale of aircraft to flagship state-owned carrier Iran Air. The Department had sanctioned Iran Air in 2011 for its use of commercial passenger aircraft to transport rockets, missiles, and other military cargo on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, both of which had been sanctioned under Executive Order No. 13382 for weapons proliferation-related activities. In October 2017, the IRGC went on to be designated under Executive Order No. 13224 for its support of the IRGC–Qods Force, which has provided support to terrorist groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, and the Taliban. Iran Air had also delivered missile or rocket components to the Assad government in Syria, which like Iran is classified as a state sponsor of terrorism. (3) Iran remains classified by the Department of the Treasury as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern. In 2019, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule to prohibit the opening or maintaining of correspondent accounts in the United States for, or on behalf of, Iranian financial institutions, and the use of foreign financial institutions’ correspondent accounts at covered U.S. financial institutions to process transactions involving Iranian financial institutions . This measure, according to FinCEN, was related to important United States policy goals, namely to deny the Iranian regime resources to support terrorism, develop nuclear weapons and/or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, advance its ballistic missile program, oppress the Iranian people, and fuel conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and elsewhere . At the time this measure was imposed, FinCEN stated that it will further protect the U.S. financial system from Iran by ensuring that U.S. financial institutions are not exposed to Iran’s ongoing illicit finance activities, including its support for international terrorism . (4) In February 2020, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) determined that Iran had not completed its action plan to address strategic deficiencies in countering money laundering, terrorist financing, and weapons proliferation. The FATF therefore returned Iran to its black list and renewed its call for countries to apply countermeasures against Iran in order to protect the international financial system. 3. Prohibition on authorizations for United States financial institutions The Secretary of the Treasury may not authorize a transaction by a U.S. financial institution (as defined under section 561.309 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations) in connection with the importation from or exportation to the Islamic Republic of Iran of any goods, services, or technology, other than the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices benefitting the civilian population of Iran. 4. Opposition to International Monetary Fund assistance The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund to— (1) oppose the provision of financial assistance by the Fund to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the allocation to the Government of Iran of Special Drawing Rights; and (2) seek to ensure that member countries of the Fund prohibit the exchange of Special Drawing Rights held by the Government of Iran. 5. Codification of Export-Import Bank prohibition with respect to Iran Section 2(b) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 ( 12 U.S.C. 635(b) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (14) Prohibition on financing for Iran The Bank may not guarantee, insure, or extend (or participate in an extension of) credit in connection with any transaction, with respect to which credit assistance from the Bank is first sought after the effective date of this paragraph, for which a lender or obligor is the Government of Iran or an entity owned or controlled by the Government of Iran. . 6. Sunset This Act and the amendment made by this Act are hereby repealed effective on the earliest of— (1) the date that is 30 days after the date the President of the United States certifies to the Congress that the Government of Iran— (A) has ceased providing support for acts of international terrorism; and (B) is not a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern, as described under section 5318A of title 31, United States Code; (2) the date that is 30 days after the date that the Secretary of the Treasury reports to the Congress that terminating the provisions of this Act is necessary to permit the United States to comply with a treaty ratified by the United States; or (3) 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.