ARE NATIONAL EXEMPTIONS FROM IRANIAN PETRO-SANCTIONS AN INVITATION TO WMD EVASION ?

Hillary Clinton, the American Secretary of State, has announced* that eleven Western Allies will be exempt from the strict sanctions against the purchase of oil and gas from Iran, because they have significantly reduced their consumption of Iranian oil. The question is: will innovative financial advisors be able to utilise this exemption to sneak through purchases of goods prohibited as facilitating the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Ballistic Missile programmes ?  

The nations listed in the statement are:

The United Kingdom

Belgium 

France 

The Netherlands

The Czech Republic

Germany

Greece

Italy

Poland

Spain 

Japan

if I am a money launderer/financial advisor working for the Islamic Republic of Iran, my brain will instantly consider whether I can possibly ship prohibited dual-use goods to Iran, through these ten exempt countries, concealed in returning containers, tankers and shipping. I may choose to pay the third parties who sell me those banned goods in cash or gold, and totally evade the sanctions of the global financial system.

Perhaps compliance officers in the countries listed above, whose financial institutions number as clients their countries' energy companies, might want to elevate their scrutiny of their clients' accounts, for some WMD suppliers may wish to be compensated, indirectly, through wire transfers.

Anytime there exists a possibility of an opening in the sanctions regime, money launderers and their clients will attempt to drive a truck through it; Watch for it.   

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*http://state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/03/186086.htm