This week, the Americans, who continue to pursue a new nuclear deal with Iran, announced that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had signed a document that would allow Iran to use frozen assets to pay debts to South Korea and Japan.
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"To be clear: The waiver does not allow for the transfer of any funds to Iran," a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday.
However, it appears that this step is part of a much broader gesture that the US plans to make to Iran in the near future. On June 21, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif appeared before the parliament in Tehran and presented them with a 264-page document titled "The 22nd Report on the Implementation of the JCPOA Including the Latest Status of Ongoing Negotiations," detailing Iran's demands from the US.
The document, translated into English by the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI), includes a four-page section about contacts in Vienna that details the sanctions that Zarif claims the US administration has agreed to lift.
The first area in which easements are expected is banking and finance. According to the document, lifted sanctions will make it possible to conduct "financial and banking transactions with the Government of Iran, the Central Bank of Iran, Iranian financial institutions, and other Iranian persons." The document says this includes "investing, buying and selling securities, guarantees, buying and selling foreign currencies (including transfers related to Rials), issuing letters of credit, and trading futures markets of commodities and options, providing specialized financial messaging services (Swift) … the purchase or acquisition of American banknotes by the Government of Iran and the purchase, underwriting, or provision of services related to the issuance of bonds of the Government of Iran."
Another point of key interest cited in the document is the oil and gas industry. The document claims that the US will lift sanctions, allowing the purchase and sale of oil and oil products, as well as natural gas, in Iran's energy sector, including through the National Iranian Oil Company.
This would also provide a boost to Iran's maritime shipping sector, which was profoundly hit by sanctions. According to the document, oil tankers will be allowed to move freely and without limitation, and foreign ships will be allowed to anchor in Iran and use Iranian services freely. Meanwhile, Iran's aviation sector would also enjoy the removal of sanctions and be allowed to purchase aircraft and spare parts.
In addition, Zarif's document claims that Iran's local industries will be allowed to trade in iron, metal, aluminum and other alloys, and its automotive sector will be allowed to sell and import vehicles without restrictions.
However, according to another key element of the document, if the government of Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi rejoins the nuclear deal, the US will not only remove sanctions but also revoke a Congressional resolution against Iran and the actions of its leader, which could directly affect Israel. The document claims that personal sanctions against Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will be lifted if Iran rejoins the deal, and a 2019 decision by the Trump administration to define the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist entity will be cancelled.
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