US Amends Anti-Iran Sanctions to Allow Greater Medical, Agricultural Export

The United States has amended sanctions against Iran to expand the scope of medical devices and agricultural commodities allowed for export, the US Department of the Treasury said in a release on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Treasury explained the amendment includes new or expanded authorizations on training, replacement parts, software and services needed for maintenance of medical devices.

"The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations…to expand the scope of medical devices and agricultural commodities generally authorized for export or reexport to Iran," the release stated.

The new regulation has also clarified the meaning of terms "goods of Iranian origin" and "Iranian-origin goods," according to the release.

On July 14, 2015, Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, comprising the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom plus Germany, signed an agreement to ensure the peaceful nature of Tehran's nuclear program in return for gradual sanctions relief.

On December 1, the US Senate unanimously supported prolonging by year 2026 the package of sanctions introduced against Iran in 1979.