[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.

                                  
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