Key Challenges in Supplying and Importing Essential Commodities to Iran

Although humanitarian goods such as food and medicine are usually exempt from international sanctions, in the case of Iran, these conventional exemptions are subject to strict regulations to ensure that these goods are not used for illegal activities, including money laundering or financing of sanctioned entities. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list, among other things, also includes shipping companies that violate US sanctions or engage in the preparation and conversion of false shipping documents for goods destined for Iran.

For this reason, many large transport companies, due to the fear of the consequences of severe American economic sanctions, strongly avoid accepting cargo to Iranian port destinations. In this way, the number of available transportation options will decrease and the transportation costs and delivery time of cargoes to Iran will increase. Several transport companies and institutions have been sanctioned in the past decade for their involvement in the transportation of goods, including the transportation of food products to Iran.