The Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023

The new Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023 was published in the official journal of the UK at legislation.gov.uk. The regulations repeal the Iran (Sanctions) (Human Rights) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 that were made on short notice to retain a sanctions regime towards Iran following the UK’s exit from the European Union.
The new regulations basically implement a similar sanctions framework towards the Iran without the restriction of sanction measures having to be based on human rights violations only. In detail, the new regulations
– Empower the Secretary of State to designate individuals and entities that are engaged in human rights violations or any „hostile activity against the United Kingdom and other countries“ and define the process of designation including the conditions that must be met for designation.
– Stipulate that such designated (legal) persons be subject to asset freezing measures. In this context, the regulations also prohibit the making available of funds (e.g. via loans or via portfolio management services such as the sale of securities) to designated (legal) persons or to other persons for the benefit of a designated person.
– Prohibit designated persons to be directors of UK companies.
– Prohibit designated persons to remain in the UK even if such stay has been authorized in the past.
– Impose extensive trade restrictions particularly for goods that can be used for the suppression of the own population or for purposes of supporting Iran’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) production. Such goods include, among others, firearms, explosives, certain vehicles, or night vision equipment. In this context, it shall also be noted that the financing, insurance, or provision of technical advice in any way in relation to such goods are also prohibited.
– Prohibit ships of designated (legal) persons to dock in UK ports.
– Provide for some possible exemption from the noted restrictions, for instance, if the restrictions would lead to national security issues or for purposes of crime prevention. In this context, the regulations also stipulate that transfer of funds for contracts concluded prior to the designation of a (legal) person are exempt from the restrictions noted in the regulations provided that certain conditions are met. Also, exemptions may apply, for instance, for emergency docking on UK ports. Also, some financial transactions are explicitly permitted such as the crediting of accounts of designated persons with interest payments.
– Empower the Secretary of State and the Treasury to grant licenses to permit otherwise prohibited activities under the license.
– Provide provisions for the enforcement of the regulations to ensure compliance and prevent circumvention.
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As these are only the key provisions of the new regulations, please refer to the original legal document for more detailed, comprehensive information.