OFAC Issues New Interpretive Ruling on Scope of Iranian Sanctions
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has posted on its Web site a new interpretive ruling involving the informational materials exception to the Iran Transactions Regulations (ITR). The interpretive ruling states that the awarding of funding by U.S. persons to individuals involved in translation projects involving scholarly publications from Iran and certain other countries subject to U.S. sanctions are exempt from the scope of the ITRs. This ruling expands on OFAC's April 2, 2004 ruling that stated that transactions relating to informational materials that are reproduced, translated or dubbed by U.S. persons for dissemination within the United States are exempt from the scope of the ITRs.
A copy of the interpretive ruling can be found at the following link:
www.treas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/rulings/ia070604.pdf.