Doing business with Iran still a maze of ambiguity, sanctions and exemptions

Washington

THE United States has a simple answer for executives of European banks scratching their heads over whether it is now legal for them to do business with Iran: Just ask.

Any firm concerned whether a prospective business deal with Iran would be legal, Secretary of State John Kerry said before a meeting with British bankers in London last week, should call the US agency in charge of sanctions, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, known as OFAC. "It really shouldn't be complicated," he told reporters, according to a transcript of his comments. "It's clearly defined, and when people have a question, we are available to answer those questions."