180 days until US sanctions are re-imposed on NITC

It was only two years ago that the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) celebrated its 60th anniversary and the lifting of United Nations sanctions and most European restrictions on doing business with Iran, including an embargo on oil imports.

Then on 8 May, President Trump signed an order for the USA’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Iran nuclear deal, which was signed by the UN Security Council members China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States plus Germany, and the European Union. The US will re-impose US nuclear-related sanctions which had been waived.

The decision is expected to have significant implications for maritime trade with Iran and the insurance of such trade, said UK P&I Club manager, Thomas Miller P&I deputy chairman, Nigel Carden in a note to members and the press.

The UK P&I Club notes that the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has declared that the relief from US sanctions granted under the JCPOA will be removed following a 180 day ‘wind-down’ period running up to 4 November 2018.

After that date, Iranian entities, including NITC will be back under US sanctions. According to Clyde & Co legal counsel Douglas Maag, the process of re-imposing sanctions on Iran will be a bumpy one. These sanctions were originally imposed in layers over a period of years through a series of congressional acts and presidential executive orders.