The Morning Risk Report: Szubin’s Iran Deal Defense, Guidance

A top U.S. Treasury Department official on Wednesday defended the Iran nuclear agreement before an audience that has been hostile to it, telling the Foundation for Defense of Democracies that lifting the U.S. nuclear-related sanctions “was the incentive” for Tehran to give up its nuclear program. The speech comes as companies look for ways to do business in Iran while complying with the terms of the agreement and the U.S. sanctions on Iran that remain.

Adam Szubin, acting undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, told the group, according to his written remarks, the U.S. has been “very careful to deliver on the promises we made” to Iran throughout the negotiations, including “proactively providing clear guidance on the type of commerce now permitted.” Mr. Szubin said the U.S. government “will not stand in the way of permissible business activity involving Iran, or the kinds of transactions that Iran is entitled to work toward” under the agreement. “What that means is very clear in the [agreement] itself and in the regulatory documents, public guidance and FAQs we have issued,” he said.

Referencing reports that U.S. officials are traveling the globe to explain how sanctions compliance will work now that the agreement has been implemented, Mr. Szubin said: “It is not in our interest to create artificial barriers to transactions that we agreed in good faith to allow so long as Iran is upholding its end of the deal.”

…

Read the full article here.