The Shipping Law Blog
A Useful Guide to the World of Maritime Law

2014 EASING OF IRAN SANCTIONS

For years ship owners worldwide have had one principal country they are sure they need to avoid dealings with to remain on the right side of the law and their insurers, Iran. This country also happens to have a wealth of potential imports / exports and a huge oil industry, so there was always plenty of work available for ships in the region, had they only been able to take it up. The time has now come for the demand tap to be gradually turned back on.



The US,  five other major powers (UK, France, Germany, Russian and China) and the EU have now announced (20 January 2014) that they will begin easing sanctions against Iran and even providing relief to the country. This is in response to actions by Iran to wind down its ability to enrich uranium (and potentially develop nuclear weapons – the source of the sanctions to begin with).

Some sanctions are being suspended for 6 months, with the promise of them and others being lifted permanently if a final agreement can be reached between Iran and the countries on its cessation of uranium enrichment.

The sanctions which are now suspended are significant and include temporary lifting of financial sanctions, and restrictions on the buying and selling and associated services related to Iran’s ‘petrochemical products’ (products derived from petroleum or oil, i.e. processed products). However, it must be noted that some of the highest-level sanctions remain in place in the meantime as normal, such as the block on buying Iranian crude oil and the freezing of the bank accounts of companies associated with the Iranian oil industry.

The full detail and guidance documents on the latest agreement is available here.

The Shipping Law Blog

For ten years the Shipping Law Blog has aimed to provide a simple, down-to-earth guide to the world of international shipping and maritime law.

If you have any questions or suggestions please get in touch at editor@theshippinglawblog.com .

Most Popular Posts

A Beginners’ Guide to Sailing

Learning to sail is one of the best ways to familiarise yourself with the basics of operating a vessel on water. Many of the terms draw across to the shipping

A Brief Guide to Liquidated Damages

We often receive queries from readers at the Shipping Law Blog, and today we received one from a non-lawyer, who had been asked to confirm whether one of their contracts

Search The Shipping Law Blog
Questions & Answers
Maritime Disasters
MARITIME STYLE GUIDE
Maritime Law Links
Visitor Loaction Map
Archives
Copyright & Legal

1. All content reserved copyright of theshippinglawblog.com 2015, unless stated otherwise. 2. Header image credit: Paul Gorbould, ‘Leader on Ice’ (Flickr). 3. This website is not intended to provide legal advice and is for interest only. The author does not guarantee the accuracy of any content and, as always, recommends that appropriate professional legal advice is sought by anyone requiring assistance with a shipping law problem. 4. If you have any ideas, recommendations or other queries in relation to the blog please e-mail me at webmaster@theshippinglawblog.com.