Title 31
SECTION 560.519
560.519 Journalistic activities and establishment of news bureaus in Iran.
§ 560.519 Journalistic activities and establishment of news bureaus in Iran.(a) Subject to the limitations and conditions set forth in paragraph (c) of this section, news reporting organizations that are United States persons, and individuals who are United States persons regularly employed by a news reporting organization either as journalists (including photojournalists) or as supporting broadcast or technical personnel, are authorized to engage in the following transactions in Iran to the extent such transactions are ordinarily incident to their journalistic activities in Iran:
(1) Hiring and compensating support staff in Iran (e.g., stringers, translators, interpreters, camera operators, technical experts, freelance producers, or drivers), or persons to handle logistics, or other office personnel as needed;
(2) Leasing or renting office space;
(3) Purchasing, leasing, or renting Iranian-origin goods and services (e.g., mobile phones and related air time), selling such goods when no longer needed to persons other than the Government of Iran, or importing them into the United States;
(4) Renting and using telecommunications facilities in Iran and paying fees related to the dissemination of information and transmission of news feeds (e.g., fees for satellite uplink facilities, live news feeds, taxes);
(5) Exporting and reexporting to Iran, and subsequently reexporting from Iran, equipment necessary for and ordinarily incident to journalistic activities, provided such equipment is designated as EAR99 under the Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR parts 730 through 774 (the “EAR”), and further provided that such equipment is reexported from Iran to the United States or a third country when no longer needed for journalistic activities in Iran; and
(6) Paying for all expenses ordinarily incident to journalistic activities, including sales or employment taxes to the Government of Iran.
(b) Subject to the limitations and conditions set forth in paragraph (c) of this section, news reporting organizations that are United States persons are authorized to establish and operate news bureaus in Iran and to engage in the transactions set forth in paragraph (a) of this section to the extent such transactions are ordinarily incident to the establishment and operation of a news bureau in Iran.
(c) The authorizations set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section are subject to the following limitations and conditions:
(1) No goods, technology, or software listed on the Commerce Control List in the EAR, 15 CFR part 774, supplement No. 1 (CCL), or that requires a license under part 744 of the EAR, or controlled by the United States Department of State under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, 22 CFR parts 120 through 130, may be exported or reexported to Iran without separate authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Note to paragraph (c)(1) of § 560.519:The Commerce Control List in the EAR, 15 CFR part 774, supplement No. 1, includes items such as many laptop computers, personal computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants and other wireless handheld devices/blackberries, and other similar items. The exportation or reexportation of these items to Iran, even on a temporary basis, is prohibited, unless specifically authorized in a license issued pursuant to this part in a manner consistent with the Iran-Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act of 1992 and other relevant law.
(2) Any United States person exporting or reexporting to Iran EAR99 equipment pursuant to paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section:
(i) Must maintain ownership and control of such equipment at all times while it is in Iran; and
(ii) Must submit a report to the Licensing Division, Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Annex, Washington, DC 20220 within 10 business days of the export or reexport specifying the items exported or reexported and confirming that they are EAR99, and another report confirming that such items have been reexported from Iran to the United States or a third country within 10 business days of the date of reexportation from Iran.
(3) This section does not authorize the exportation or reexportation to Iran of any goods, technology, or services that are not necessary and ordinarily incident to journalistic activities in Iran or to the establishment and operation of a news bureau in Iran.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the term news reporting organization means an entity whose primary purpose is the gathering and dissemination of news to the general public.
Note to § 560.519:For a specific licensing policy governing the establishment and operation of news bureaus in the United States by Iranian news organizations, see § 560.549.