Introduced in response to research showing that Iran Air may have been working closely with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, this bill would impose new congressional oversight procedures on sales of commercial passenger aircraft to Iran.
Specifically, it would direct the Treasury secretary to report to Congress any time he authorizes a financial transaction in connection with the export or re-export of a commercial passenger aircraft to Iran. The report would have to include a certification that the given transaction does not pose a significant money laundering or terrorism financing risk to the U.S. financial system, that it does not benefit any Iranian person that supports known terrorists or transports items used for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, inter alia. If the secretary cannot make such a certification, the report would have to include an explanatory statement. The president would be allowed to waive the provision summarized above if he certifies to Congress that a waiver would be in the interest of national security or that the Iranian government has made “substantial progress” to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, and “significantly reduced” its “destabilizing activities in the region” or “material support for terrorist groups.”