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1 1 (February 28, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveolm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: aCongressional R.fesearch Service Iran's Petroleum Exports to China and U.S. Sanctions Updated February 28, 2024 The October 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) with financial ties to Iran, have increased Congress' concern with Iran's ability to raise revenue in international markets. Iran's petroleum exports reportedly reached new heights in 2023, with most of the increase attributed to trade with China. The evasive techniques used to obscure Iranian petroleum exports complicate efforts to identify Iran's trade patterns, and use sanctions effectively in furtherance of U.S. foreign policy. Background: U.S. Sanctions U.S. efforts to limit Iranian income from petroleum and petroleum products (hereinafter petroleum) via sanctions go back decades. Section 1245 of the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 112-81) (22 U.S.C. § 8513a) directed the President to block from the U.S. financial system foreign financial institutions that conduct transactions with Iran's Central Bank or other designated Iranian banks whose assets are blocked under the provision, except for foreign central banks that do not engage in transactions related to Iranian petroleum. The statute excepts from these secondary sanctions foreign financial institutions in countries determined to be significantly reducing their purchases of Iranian petroleum (President Trump approved the last such exception in 2018). In 2018, President Trump abrogated U.S. participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and issued Executive Order 13846, to reinstate those sanctions that had been terminated in meeting requirements of the JCPOA. The Secretary of State has authority to designate for sanctions any person determined to have engaged in a transaction related to the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of Iranian petroleum. The United States has imposed sanctions on dozens of entities for their role in the illicit shipment of Iranian petroleum to Asia under E.O. 13846. Iran's Petroleum Exports to China U.S. secondary sanctions are intended to impose financial or other costs to dissuade foreign persons (third parties) from participating in activities that U.S. persons cannot engage in-all with the intention of denying revenue to the primary malign actor. With China's increasing imports of Iranian petroleum, Chinese buyers may have concluded that the economic benefits of continuing to buy Iranian petroleum exceed the risks of potential U.S. sanctions for several reasons. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12267 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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