The Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023

PART 1 U.K. General

Citation, commencement and extent U.K.

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 14th December 2023.

(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 1 in force at 14.12.2023, see reg. 1(2)

Interpretation U.K.

2.  In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018;

“armed group backed by the Government of Iran” includes any armed group which—

(a)

is being or has been armed, trained or funded by the Government of Iran,

(b)

is taking or has taken direction from the Government of Iran, or

(c)

is acting or has acted for the benefit of the Government of Iran;

“arrangement” includes any agreement, understanding, scheme, transaction or series of transactions, whether or not legally enforceable (but see paragraph 12 of Schedule 1 for the meaning of that term in that Schedule);

“CEMA” means the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979(1);

“the Commissioners” means the Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs;

“conduct” includes acts and omissions;

“director disqualification licence” means a licence under regulation 61;

“document” includes information recorded in any form and, in relation to information recorded otherwise than in legible form, references to its production include producing a copy of the information in legible form;

“the Dual-Use Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 of 5 May 2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items;

“the Government of Iran” includes its public bodies, corporations or agencies, its armed forces or any person acting on its behalf or at its direction;

“serious human rights violation or abuse” means a serious violation or abuse of any of the human rights specified in regulation 4;

“trade licence” means a licence under regulation 62;

“Treasury licence” means a licence under regulation 60(1);

“United Kingdom person” has the same meaning as in section 21 of the Act.

Commencement Information

I2 Reg. 2 in force at 14.12.2023, see reg. 1(2)

Application of prohibitions and requirements outside the United Kingdom U.K.

3.—(1) A United Kingdom person may contravene a relevant prohibition by conduct wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom.

(2) Any person may contravene a relevant prohibition by conduct in the territorial sea.

(3) In this regulation a “relevant prohibition” means any prohibition imposed—

(a) by regulation 11(2) or 13(2) (confidential information),

(b) by Part 3 (Finance),

(c) by Part 6 (Trade),

(d) by or under Part 7 (Ships), or

(e) by a condition of a Treasury licence or a trade licence.

(4) A United Kingdom person may comply, or fail to comply, with a relevant requirement by conduct wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom.

(5) Any person may comply, or fail to comply, with a relevant requirement by conduct in the territorial sea.

(6) In this regulation a “relevant requirement” means any requirement imposed—

(a) by or under Part 9 (Information and records), or by reason of a request made under a power conferred by that Part,

(b) by a condition of a Treasury licence or a trade licence, or

(c) by a direction under regulation 48 (movement of ships).

(7) Nothing in this regulation is to be taken to prevent a relevant prohibition or a relevant requirement from applying to conduct (by any person) in the United Kingdom.

Commencement Information

I3 Reg. 3 in force at 14.12.2023, see reg. 1(2)

Purposes U.K.

4.—(1) The purposes of the regulations contained in this instrument that are made under section 1 of the Act are—

(a) to encourage the Government of Iran to comply with international human rights law and to respect human rights, including in particular, to—

(i) respect the right to life of persons in Iran, for example by refraining from the execution of juvenile offenders in all circumstances;

(ii) respect the right of persons not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Iran, including—

(aa) torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment with a view to extracting information from detained persons,

(bb) inhuman and degrading conditions in prisons, and

(cc) forms of punishment such as flogging and amputation;

(iii) respect the right to liberty and security, including refraining from the arbitrary arrest and detention of persons in Iran;

(iv) afford persons in Iran charged with criminal offences the right to a fair trial;

(v) afford journalists, human rights defenders and other persons in Iran the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly;

(vi) secure the human rights of persons in Iran without discrimination, including on the basis of a person’s sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status;

(b) to deter the Government of Iran or an armed group backed by the Government of Iran from conducting hostile activity against the United Kingdom or any other country.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), “hostile activity” means activity falling within regulation 8(3).

Commencement Information

I4 Reg. 4 in force at 14.12.2023, see reg. 1(2)

(1)

1979 c. 2. Amendments have been made to this Act and are cited, where relevant, in respect of the applicable regulations.