[House Document 107-50]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-50
PERIODIC REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO IRAN
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
A 6-MONTH PERIODIC REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO
IRAN THAT WAS DECLARED IN EXECUTIVE ORDER 12957 OF MARCH 15, 1995,
PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C. 1703(c)
March 13, 2001.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations
and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
As required by section 401(c) of the National Emergencies
Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c), section 204(c) of the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(c), and section
505(c) of the International Security and Development
Cooperation Act of 1985, 22 U.S.C. 2349aa-9(c), I transmit
herewith a 6-month periodic report on the national emergency
with respect to Iran that was declared in Executive Order 12957
of March 15, 1995.
George W. Bush.
The White House, March 13, 2001.
President's Periodic Report on the National Emergency With Respect to
Iran
I hereby report to the Congress on developments over the
course of the past six months concerning the national emergency
with respect to Iran that was declared in Executive Order 12957
of March 15, 1995, and matters relating to the measures in that
order and in Executive Order 12959 of May 6, 1995 and Executive
Order 13059 of August 19, 1997. This report is submitted
pursuant to section 204(c) of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(c) (``IEEPA''), section
401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c), and
section 505(c) of the International Security and Development
Cooperation Act of 1985, 22 U.S.C. 2349aa-9(c). This report
discusses only matters concerning the national emergency with
respect to Iran that was declared in Executive Order 12957 and
does not deal with those relating to the emergency declared on
November 14, 1979, in connection with the hostage crisis.
1. During this period, OFAC made numerous decisions with
respect to applications for licenses to engage in transactions
under the Regulations. Of those applications for licenses that
were denied, the majority were for requests to authorize
commercial exports to Iran--particularly of machinery and
equipment for various industries--and the importation of
Iranian-origin goods. Sixty-three licenses were granted; of
which 11 were issued authorizing commercial sales and
exportation to Iran of bulk agricultural commodities. In
addition, licenses were also issued authorizing 31 sales of
medicines or medical equipment. Other licenses that were issued
authorized certain licensable transactions involving air and
marine safety, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic, legal, and
financial activities, as well as film making, humanitarian,
journalistic, and research activities, and the importation of
art objects for public exhibition. Pursuant to Sections 3 and 4
of Executive Order 12959, Executive Order 13059, and consistent
with statutory restrictions concerning certain goods and
technology, including those involved in air safety cases,
Treasury continues to consult with the Departments of State and
Commerce prior to issuing licenses.
For the period September 15, 2000, through March 14, 2001,
on OFAC's instructions, U.S. banks refused to process
approximately 1,300 commercial transactions, the majority
involving foreign financial institutions that would have been
contrary to U.S. sanctions against Iran. The
transactionsrejected amounted to nearly $59 million worth of business
denied Iran by virtue of U.S. economic sanctions.
Since the last report, OFAC has collected 32 civil monetary
penalties totaling nearly $275,000 for violations of IEEPA and
the Regulations. The violators included 2 insurers, 5 carriers,
7 companies, 8 U.S. financial institutions, and 8 individuals.
An additional 128 cases are undergoing penalty action for
violations of IEEPA and the Regulations.
2. On August 23, 2000, in the Northern District of Georgia,
a Georgia corporation was ordered to pay a criminal fine of
$250,000 as a result of a guilty plea entered on May 10, 2000,
to one count of violating IEEPA by exporting automobile parts
from the United States to Iran through third countries. Two
company officials were each sentenced to six months in federal
prison and an additional five months of home confinement as a
result of their guilty pleas on May 10 to making false
statements to the United States Government in connection with
the illegal shipments.
On October 20, 2000, in the District of Maryland, a guilty
plea was entered for a California corporation to one count of a
criminal information charging violations of IEEPA for the
attempted exportation of gas chromatographs from the United
States to Iran. The corporation was ordered to pay a fine of
$25,000. On October 20, the corporation's principal officer
entered a guilty plea to one count of making a false statement
to the United States Government concerning the attempted
exportation as charged in a March 1997 superseding indictment
and was placed on probation for one year.
Various enforcement actions carried over from previous
reporting periods are continuing and new reports of violations
are being aggressively pursued.
3. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the
six-month period from September 15, 2000, through March 14,
2001, that are directly attributable to the exercise of powers
and authorities conferred by the declaration of a national
emergency with respect to Iran are reported to be approximately
$1.15 million, most of which represent wage and salary costs
for Federal personnel. Personnel costs were largely centered in
the Department of the Treasury (particularly in the Office of
Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Customs Service, the Office of
the Under Secretary for Enforcement, and the Office of the
General Counsel), the Department of State (particularly the
Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, the Bureau of Near
Eastern Affairs, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and
the Office of the Legal Adviser), and the Department of
Commerce (the Bureau of Export Administration and the Chief
Counsel's Office).
4. The situation reviewed above continues to present an
extraordinary and unusual threat to the national security,
foreign policy, and economy of the United States. The
declaration of the national emergency with respect to Iran
contained in Executive Order 12957 and the comprehensive
economic sanctions imposed by Executive Order 12959 underscore
the United States Government's opposition to the actions and
policies of the Government of Iran, particularly its support of
international terrorism and its efforts to acquire weapons of
mass destruction and the means to deliver them. The Iranian
Transactions Regulations issued pursuant to Executive Orders
12957, 12959, and 13059 continue to advance important
objectives in furthering the nonproliferation and anti-
terrorism policies of the United States. I shall exercise the
powers at my disposal to deal with these problems and will
report periodically to the Congress, as required by statute, on
significant developments.