Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1529 of 20 July 2023 concerning restrictive measures in view of Iran’s military support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

Article 1

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(a) ‘brokering services’ means: (i) the negotiation or arrangement of transactions for the purchase, sale or supply of goods and technology or of financial and technical services, including from a third country to any other third country; or (ii) the selling or buying of goods and technology or of financial and technical services, including where they are located in third countries for their transfer to another third country;

(b) ‘claim’ means any claim, whether asserted in legal proceedings or not, made before or after the date of entry into force of this Regulation, under, or in connection with, a contract or transaction, in particular: (i) a claim for the performance of any obligation arising under, or in connection with, a contract or transaction; (ii) a claim for extension or payment of a bond, financial guarantee or indemnity of whatever form; (iii) a claim for compensation in respect of a contract or transaction; (iv) a counterclaim; (v) a claim for the recognition or enforcement, including by the procedure of exequatur, of a judgment, an arbitration award or an equivalent decision, wherever made or given;

(c) ‘contract or transaction’ means any transaction in whatever form and whatever the applicable law, whether comprising one or more contracts or similar obligations made between the same or different parties; for this purpose ‘contract’ includes a bond, guarantee or indemnity, in particular a financial guarantee or financial indemnity, and credit, whether legally independent or not, as well as any related provision arising under, or in connection with, the transaction;

(d) ‘competent authorities’ refers to the competent authorities of the Member States as identified on the websites listed in Annex I;

(e) ‘economic resources’ means assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, which are not funds but may be used to obtain funds, goods or service;

(f) ‘financing or financial assistance’ means any action, irrespective of the particular means chosen, whereby the person, entity or body concerned, conditionally or unconditionally, disburses or commits to disburse its own funds or economic resources, including but not limited to grants, loans, guarantees, suretyships, bonds, letters of credit, supplier credits, buyer credits, import or export advances and all types of insurance and reinsurance, including export credit insurance; payment as well as terms and conditions of payment of the agreed price for a good or a service, made in line with normal business practice, do not constitute financing or financial assistance;

(g) ‘freezing of economic resources’ means preventing the use of economic resources to obtain funds, goods or services in any way, including, but not limited to, by selling, hiring or mortgaging them;

(h) ‘funds’ means financial assets and benefit of every kind, including, but not limited to: (i) cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments; (ii) deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations; (iii) publicly and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts; (iv) interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets; (v) credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments; (vi) letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; (vii) documents showing evidence of an interest in funds or financial resources;

(i) ‘freezing of funds’ means preventing any movement, transfer, alteration, use of, access to, or dealing with funds in any way that would result in any change in their volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, character, destination or other change that would enable the funds to be used, including portfolio management;

(j) ‘technical assistance’ means any technical support related to repairs, development, manufacture, assembly, testing, maintenance, or any other technical service, and may take forms such as instruction, advice, training, the transmission of working knowledge or skills or consulting services, including verbal forms of assistance;

(k) ‘territory of the Union’ means the territories of the Member States to which the Treaty is applicable, under the conditions laid down in the Treaty, including their airspace.

Article 2

The transit via the territory of Iran of the goods and technology, as referred to in the first subparagraph, exported from the Union, shall be prohibited.

It shall be prohibited:

(a) to provide technical assistance, brokering services or other services related to goods and technology referred to in paragraph 1 and to the provision, manufacture, maintenance and use of those goods and technology, directly or indirectly to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Iran, or for use in Iran;

(b) to provide financing or financial assistance related to the goods and technology referred to in paragraph 1 for any sale, supply, transfer or export of those goods and technology, or for the provision of related technical assistance, brokering services or other services, directly or indirectly to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Iran, or for use in Iran;

(c) to sell, license or transfer in any other way intellectual property rights or trade secrets as well as grant rights to access or re-use any material or information protected by means of intellectual property rights or which constitute trade secrets related to the goods and technology referred to in paragraph 1 and to the provision, manufacture, maintenance and use of those goods and technology, directly or indirectly to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Iran or for use in Iran.

By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, and without prejudice to the authorisation requirement pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/821, where applicable, competent authorities may authorise the sale, supply, transfer, transit or export of the goods and technology referred to in paragraph 1 or the provision of related technical or financial assistance, for non-military use and for a non-military end-user, after having determined that such goods or technology or the related technical or financial assistance are necessary for:

(a) medical or pharmaceutical purposes; or

(b) humanitarian purposes, health emergencies, the urgent prevention or mitigation of an event likely to have a serious and significant impact on human health and safety or on the environment, or as a response to natural disasters.

Article 2a

Annex IV shall include ports and locks that are:

(a) owned, operated or controlled by any natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex III;

(b) owned, operated, or controlled by a legal person, entity or body whose proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned for 50 % or more by an entity listed in Annex III;

(c) owned, operated or controlled by a natural or legal person, entity or body acting on behalf or at the direction of an entity referred to in point (a) or (b) of this paragraph; or

(d) used for the transfer of Iranian UAVs or missiles or related technologies or components thereof to Russia in support of its war of aggression against Ukraine.

Article 3

All funds and economic resources belonging to, or owned, held or controlled by natural or legal persons, entities or bodies:

(a) responsible for, supporting or involved in Iran’s UAV or missile programme;

(b) supplying, selling or otherwise involved in transferring Iran’s UAVs or missiles or related technologies or components thereof: (i) to Russia in support of its war of aggression against Ukraine; (ii) to armed groups and entities undermining peace and security in the Middle East and the Red Sea region; (iii) to natural or legal persons, entities or bodies acting in breach of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015); or,

(c) associated with natural or legal persons, entities or bodies referred to in point (a) or (b);

as listed in Annex III, shall be frozen.

Article 3a

By way of derogation from Article 3, competent authorities may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that the funds or economic resources concerned are:

(a) necessary to satisfy the basic needs of the natural persons listed in Annex III and dependent family members of such natural persons, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges;

(b) intended exclusively for the payment of reasonable professional fees and the reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services;

(c) intended exclusively for the payment of fees or service charges for the routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources;

(d) necessary for extraordinary expenses, provided that the competent authority has notified the competent authorities of the other Member States and the Commission of the grounds on which it considers that a specific authorisation should be granted, at least two weeks prior to the authorisation; or

(e) to be paid into or from an account belonging to a diplomatic mission, or consular post or an international organisation enjoying immunities in accordance with international law, insofar as such payments are intended to be used for official purposes of the diplomatic mission, or consular post or international organisation.

Article 3b

By way of derogation from Article 3, competent authorities may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources, provided that the following conditions are met:

(a) the funds or economic resources are the subject of an arbitral decision rendered prior to the date on which the natural or legal person, entity or body referred to in Article 3(1) was listed in Annex III, or of a judicial or administrative decision rendered in the Union, or a judicial decision enforceable in the Member State concerned, prior to or after that date;

(b) the funds or economic resources will be used exclusively to satisfy claims secured by such a decision or recognised as valid in such a decision, within the limits set by applicable laws and regulations governing the rights of persons having such claims;

(c) the decision is not for the benefit of a natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex III; and

(d) recognition of the decision is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned.

Article 3c

By way of derogation from Article 3 and provided that a payment by a natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex III is due under a contract or agreement that was concluded by, or under an obligation that arose for the natural or legal person, entity or body concerned, before the date on which that natural or legal person, entity or body was included in Annex III, competent authorities may authorise, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, provided that the competent authority concerned has determined that:

(a) the funds or economic resources shall be used for a payment by a natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex III; and

(b) the payment is not in breach of Article 3(2).

Article 3ca

Article 3d

Article 3e

Article 3f

Article 3 shall not apply to funds or economic resources that are needed for:

(a) humanitarian purposes, the evacuation or repatriation of persons, or initiatives providing support to victims of natural, nuclear or chemical disasters;

(b) the operation of flights required for attending meetings with the objective of seeking a solution to the Iranian military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and to armed groups and entities in the Middle East and the Red Sea region, or of promoting the policy objectives of the restrictive measures;

(c) an emergency landing, take-off or overflight, or

(d) travel for official purposes of members of the diplomatic or consular missions of Member States in Iran or of international organisations enjoying immunities in accordance with international law.

Article 5

Natural and legal persons, entities and bodies shall:

(a) supply immediately any information which would facilitate compliance with this Regulation, such as information on accounts and the amounts frozen in accordance with Article 3(1), to the competent authority of the Member State where they are established or located, and transmit such information, directly or through the Member State, to the Commission; and

(b) cooperate with the competent authority in any verification of the information referred to in point (a).

Article 6

The Commission and Member States shall inform each other of the measures taken under this Regulation and share any other relevant information at their disposal in connection with this Regulation, in particular information in respect of:

(a) funds frozen under Article 3 and authorisations granted under Articles 2, 3a, 3b and 3c; and

(b) infringements of the provisions of this Regulation, enforcement problems and judgments handed down by national courts.

Article 7

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

No claims in connection with any contract or transaction the performance of which has been affected, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, by the measures imposed under this Regulation, including claims for indemnity or any other claim of this type, such as a claim for compensation or a claim under a guarantee, in particular a claim for extension or payment of a bond, guarantee or indemnity, or a financial guarantee or financial indemnity, of whatever form, shall be satisfied, if they are made by:

(a) designated natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex III;

(b) any other Iranian person, entity or body;

(c) any natural or legal person, entity or body acting through or on behalf of one of the natural or legal persons, entities or bodies referred to in points (a) and (b).

Article 12

Natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex III, shall:

(a) report within six weeks from the date of listing in Annex III funds or economic resources within the jurisdiction of a Member State belonging to, owned, held or controlled by them, to the competent authorities of the Member State in which those funds or economic resources are located; and

(b) cooperate with the competent authorities concerned in the verification of such information.

Article 13

The Council, the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the ‘High Representative’) shall process personal data in order to carry out their tasks under this Regulation. These tasks shall include:

(a) as regards the Council, preparing and making amendments to Annex III;

(b) as regards the High Representative, preparing amendments to Annex III;

(c) as regards the Commission: (i) adding the contents of Annex III to the electronic, consolidated list of persons, groups and entities subject to Union financial sanctions and to the interactive sanctions map, both of which are publicly available; (ii) processing information on the impact of the measures provided for in this Regulation, such as the value of frozen funds and information on authorisations granted by the competent authorities.

Article 14

Article 15

Any information provided to or received by the Commission in accordance with this Regulation shall be used by the Commission only for the purposes for which it was provided or received.

Article 16

This Regulation shall apply:

(a) within the territory of the Union, including its airspace;

(b) on board any aircraft or vessel under the jurisdiction of a Member State;

(c) to any natural person inside or outside the territory of the Union who is a national of a Member State;

(d) to any legal person, entity or body, inside or outside the territory of the Union, which is incorporated or constituted under the law of a Member State;

(e) to any legal person, entity or body in respect of any business done in whole or in part within the Union.

Article 17

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I

BELGIUM

https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/policy/policy_areas/peace_and_security/sanctions

BULGARIA

https://www.mfa.bg/en/EU-sanctions

CZECHIA

www.financnianalytickyurad.cz/mezinarodni-sankce.html

DENMARK

https://um.dk/udenrigspolitik/sanktioner/ansvarlige-myndigheder

GERMANY

https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Artikel/Aussenwirtschaft/embargos-aussenwirtschaftsrecht.html

ESTONIA

https://vm.ee/sanktsioonid-ekspordi-ja-relvastuskontroll/rahvusvahelised-sanktsioonid

IRELAND

https://www.dfa.ie/our-role-policies/ireland-in-the-eu/eu-restrictive-measures/

GREECE

http://www.mfa.gr/en/foreign-policy/global-issues/international-sanctions.html

SPAIN

https://www.exteriores.gob.es/es/PoliticaExterior/Paginas/SancionesInternacionales.aspx

FRANCE