Wall Street Journal: Secret Document Signed Between Iran and the U.S. to Lift Sanctions on Banks

U.S. and Iran agreements regarding the implementation of the JCPOA have once again made headlines, this time with the American newspaper Wall Street Journal reporting on a 'secret agreement' with Tehran to support the U.S. in lifting United Nations sanctions against the state-owned Bank Sepah and its international branch. The 'secret agreement,' as reported by the Wall Street Journal, took place last January, on the day of the release of four Iranian-American citizens from Iranian prisons, just hours before the announcement of the JCPOA's implementation. The Wall Street Journal's report on this agreement is based on last month's negotiations between Obama administration officials and the U.S. Congress, during the presentation of information regarding 'secret agreements with Iran,' and emphasizes that the lifting of sanctions against two Iranian banks by the Security Council was part of 'very secret agreements' that included the payment of $1.7 billion in cash to the Iranian government. The Wall Street Journal recalled that this cash payment, delivered to Iran by the U.S. on January 17, recently provoked objections from members of Congress. This report comes just a few days after the implementation of the JCPOA, on January 29, 2016, when Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced in an interview with Iranian state television the agreement regarding the lifting of sanctions against Bank Sepah. He elaborated, stating, 'One path was the JCPOA. The other path was the Bank Sepah, which we had pursued separately. These projects do not necessarily proceed along a purely technical path; there was also a political and negotiation path... and ultimately, Bank Sepah, the oldest bank in Iran, was freed. Another path was the issue of prisoners; we had to remove 28 Iranians, seven prisoners, seven who had separate legal restrictions, and 14 Iranians who were being pursued by the U.S. government from the list.' What were the terms of the separate agreements between Iran and the U.S.? The Wall Street Journal described the text of the Obama administration's secret agreements with the Islamic Republic of Iran as follows: - An agreement regarding the U.S. commitment to drop charges against 21 Iranian citizens and to cease prosecution in exchange for the release of four American citizens imprisoned in Iran. - An agreement regarding the U.S. commitment to transfer $400 million in cash to Iran, which had been deposited for arms purchases in the U.S. during the monarchy. In addition to this amount, the U.S. committed to pay another $1.3 billion in long-term interest in two installments, also in cash to Iran. - The third agreement was regarding the lifting of Security Council sanctions against two Iranian banks. These sanctions were related to the role of these banks in providing financial services to Iran's ballistic missile program, imposed by the Security Council and valid until 2023. The Wall Street Journal quotes an Obama administration official who provided this information to Congress, adding that 'the timing of these agreements was by no means coincidental.' The Wall Street Journal's detailed report mentions the name of the American diplomat who signed the three agreements with the Iranian government on behalf of the Obama administration, Brett McGurk, a member of the U.S. State Department, stating that Bank Sepah, the oldest bank in Iran and the third largest bank in the country by assets, and the International Sepah Bank, based in London, played a key role in Iran's global financial and trade relations before sanctions. U.S. officials say that the United States sought to align U.N. sanctions with U.S. Treasury Department sanctions, and among the reasons for lifting more sanctions against Iran was the rapid implementation of the JCPOA, which represented a significant retreat in the structure of [nuclear] industries and a reduction in the production of nuclear fuel. Another senior official in the Obama administration stated that the lifting of sanctions on Bank Sepah and its international arm in London emphasized the commitment of the U.S. and other world powers to reduce the pressures of sanctions in implementing the JCPOA. The Wall Street Journal added that, according to critics of the Obama administration and some members of Congress, these actions actually represented a breach of the government's commitment to Congress regarding the nuclear agreement. Critics of the U.S. government also point out that members of the Obama administration had told Congress that under the nuclear agreement, only sanctions against individuals and companies linked to Iran's nuclear program would be suspended, while sanctions against those involved in expanding [Iran's] missile program would remain in effect. The U.S. Treasury Department had placed Bank Sepah and the International Sepah Bank on the sanctions list in January 2007, along with its CEO, for participating in Iran's missile program, and in addition, industries related to Bank Sepah, including the Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization and the Shahid Hemmati Industrial Group, were also added to the sanctions list. Since the announcement of the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic of Iran has tested its ballistic missiles ten times, and the U.N. Security Council has only condemned such tests, but the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned two Iranian companies since last March for collaborating with the Shahid Hemmati Industries. At the end of the Wall Street Journal report, it also refers to internal disagreements that have arisen within the Obama administration. The newspaper states that Ashton Carter, the Secretary of Defense, recently testified in Congress that the White House did not inform officials of this department about the cash transfer to Iran. General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also told Congress that he was concerned upon hearing such news, as the transfer of a large amount of cash to Tehran could lead to an increase in the harmful influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran.