PAAIA Releases Scorecard for the 112th Congress

October 24, 2012, Washington D.C. – The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) today released its congressional scorecard for the 112th Congress, which informs the public as to where members of Congress stand on issues of importance to the Iranian American community.

The primary purpose of PAAIA’s biannual congressional scorecard is to ensure that Iranian Americans are informed about the voting records and performances of their members of Congress. In addition, the scorecards ensure that members of Congress are aware that their votes and positions on issues of importance to the Iranian American community will be analyzed and made public.

The scorecard for the 112th Congress focuses on bills and resolutions that bear on three areas: civil liberties, immigration, and a special category which consists of legislation that doesn’t clearly fall into any particular topic. In addition, we have profiled but not rated a number of measures that have come before the House of Representatives and Senate concerning U.S. policy towards Iran. This is in keeping with PAAIA’s neutrality on the subject and in accordance with our goal to ensure that Iranian Americans are informed about legislative initiatives and the positions that their members of Congress are taking concerning this topic.

For a complete copy of the congressional scorecard for the 112th Congress, please click here.

OFAC Alters Iran Sanctions Regulations

October 25, 2012, Washington, D.C. – On October 22, 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an important revision of Iranian Transactions Regulations (31 CFR Part 560), the main body of U.S. sanctions laws pertaining to Iran. The revision does not reflect a loosening of the existing sanctions, but rather a granting of specific exemptions, known as general licenses, which are relevant to the Iranian American community.
 
According to a communication received by PAAIA from the Department of Treasury spokesman, John Sullivan, the Administration “issued several General Licenses that will bolster U.S.-Iran people to people ties and facilitate transactions related to exports of items such as food and medicine to the Iranian people. These new General Licenses will provide a standing authorization for activities that previously required a case-by-case review by OFAC.”

Under the revised regulations, renamed the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR), certain activities are now authorized by a general license that formerly required a specific license. Examples include: a general license to export certain “basic medical supplies” to Iran as well as general licenses related to some immigrant and nonimmigrant visa categories.
 
In addition, certain property sales in Iran by U.S. persons are now permissible without the need to obtain a specific license. Under these new regulations, U.S. persons can engage in “transactions necessarily and ordinarily incident to the sale of physical property in Iran” that was acquired before the individual became a U.S. person or inherited from persons in Iran. These transactions include (but are not restricted to) hiring people in Iran to perform services essential for real property sale (for example, a lawyer, real estate broker, or funds agent). According to attorney Erich C. Ferrari, an expert on U.S. trade sanctions administered by the OFAC, this is a major change for Iranian Americans and may expedite sales of real property. 

Click here to read more. 

Click here to view the top 5 ways the ITSR will affect the Iranian American community.