NIAC Calls for Treasury to Protect Iranian Americans from Bank Account Closures
The National Iranian American Council (“NIAC”)—the largest grassroots organization in the United States representing the interests of Iranian Americans—respectfully petitions the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) for the issuance of a rule providing license authorization for certain transactions prohibited pursuant to the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“ITSR”), 31 C.F.R. Part 560. This request is made pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 555(b) and 31 C.F.R. § 501.804(b), the latter of which is applicable to the ITSR by virtue of 31 C.F.R. § 560.101.
NIAC Calls for Bank of America to Stop Closures of Iranian American Bank Accounts
I am writing on behalf of the National Iranian American Council (“NIAC”), the largest grassroots organization in the United States representing the interests of Iranian Americans, regarding Bank of America’s treatment of its U.S. customers of Iranian origin. Over the past several years, we have received persistent questions and complaints from Iranian Americans and Iranian nationals in the U.S. whose bank accounts have been abruptly closed by Bank of America – in some cases without notice and in other cases even when documents requested by the bank were submitted by these customers that confirmed that the provision of services to such customers was lawful.1 Our review of this material indicates that Bank of America has adopted policies and practices that are clearly discriminatory towards customers of Iranian origin. We therefore request that Bank of America immediately remediate its internal policies and procedures to ensure that such discrimination ceases. Absent such steps, we reserve the right to pursue litigation regarding this matter.
NIAC Urges Treasury to Remove Impediments to Iran Flood Relief Aid
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019 CONTACT: Mana Mostatabi | 202.386.6325 x103 | [email protected] WASHINGTON D.C. — NIAC President Jamal Abdi issued the following statement on the need for the Treasury Department to take steps to ensure that humanitarian relief efforts for victims of Iranian flooding is not impeded by U.S. sanctions: “Amid disastrous […]
Sanctions punish Iran’s most vulnerable
While the Iranian government refuses to waver on the issue of its nuclear development, U.S. sanctions continue to get broader and more unwieldy. The sanctions are posing new obstacles to U.S. interests and causing pain inside of Iran. For instance, there are new reports that even American journalists covering Iran–already dealing with Tehran’s press restrictions–now must also […]
Thank Obama for Suspending Sanctions on Humanitarian Aid
Dear President Obama, Thank you for taking action to enable the American people to help the Iranian people in their time of need following the earthquakes that struck northern Iran. We greatly appreciate your issuance of a general license to help ensure sanctions don’t obstruct humanitarian relief in the aftermath of this tragedy. Your efforts demonstrate […]
Iran News Roundup 01/25
Will Israel Attack Iran? New York Times magazine will run a cover story on whether an Israeli strike on Iran is imminent. According to the author, Ronen Bergman, “After speaking with many senior Israeli leaders and chiefs of the military and the intelligence, I have come to believe that Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012” (New […]
Iran Trade Sanctions and You
In the 9th episode of “Let’s Talk Iran”, we interview Erich Ferrari, expert on trade sanctions law. How are sanctions enforced? How do sanctions affect the Iranian-American community? What would the new proposal to sanction the Central Bank of Iran mean for the Iranian-American community? Listen to find the answer to these questions and more. […]