Hurry up and wait: Easing Iranian sanctions could take some time

The JCPoA is the result of stuttering 12 years of negotiation between Iran and the US, UK, France, China, Germany and Russia, over the state's nuclear programme. It lays out provisions to monitor and restrict Iran's nuclear development to prevent the creation of nuclear weapons, the fear of which led the US, EU and UN to impose tough sanctions on banking and industry in Iran, including shipping.

"It is difficult, at this early stage in the process, to anticipate the timescale by which the current legislation in the EU and US will be repealed or rolled back," The UK P&I Club stated in an alert. "It is, however, clear that the prohibition on the provision of insurance or reinsurance [in and with Iran] will eventually be lifted, and the current prohibition in respect of the transport of oil, petrochemical and gas products will also be lifted in due course."

"The JCPoA provides that adoption will occur 90 days after the JCPoA is endorsed by the UN Security Council or at an earlier date by mutual consent of all JCPoA participants, at which point the JCPoA comes into effect. The EU and its Member States will adopt an EU Regulation, taking effect on the date of implementation, terminating all provisions of the EU Regulation implementing all nuclear-related economic and financial EU sanctions," it clarified.

"Even after the necessary legislation has been passed there will be residual sanctions that apply to Iran (notably to US persons)," Clyde and Co's Patrick Murphy and Amir Kordvani wrote in a blog post today.

"Before taking any steps for engaging in Iran-related business, investors should identify and comply with any sanctions obligations that are still applicable to them."

The pair went on to further warn about changes in legislation in the years investors may have been absent from Iran, as well as the possibility of outstanding disputes from when firms withdrew from the country.

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