Business Risk Matrix
There remain serious legal, political, financial, and reputational risks associated with doing business in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran’s financial sector stands next to North Korea as the only countries on the planet designated on the blacklist of the money laundering and counter-terrorism watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The network affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which remains sanctioned by the US Government as a terrorist organization, and foundations that answer to the Supreme Leader, called bonyad, control significant swaths of the Iranian economy, according to the most conservative estimates. Any company doing business in the Islamic Republic will touch one of these actors.
The risks inherent in doing business in Iran can be classified into the 12 categories below. In light of such risks, it should be clear to all responsible companies that Iran is not genuinely “open for business.”
- IRGC Front Company RiskFirms that go into Iran will likely do business with Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) front companies.
- Violations of Int’l Laws/Treaties & Revocation of JCPOA RiskIran continues to violate international law, U.N. Security Council resolutions, and the JCPOA, including testing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles…
- Arrest, Imprisonment, Kidnaping, Torture and Execution RiskInternational corporations cannot guarantee that their employees will not be subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.
- Hacking & Cybersecurity RiskBusinesses face the threat of hacking by Iranian operatives including the disclosure of proprietary information and confidential employee and…
- “Material Support” RiskFirms run the high risk of inadvertently providing tools to Iran’s human rights abusers. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terror (Hezbollah,…
- Reputational RiskBusiness in Iran poses myriad reputational risks due to the regime’s egregious record of human rights violations and international sponsorship of…
- Insurance RiskDue to compounded risks associated with Iran, business is risky both for companies and their insurance providers, who cannot guarantee normal and…
- Sanctions RiskCompanies that go into Iran will still be subject to extraterritorial secondary U.S. sanctions ($14 billion in fines since 2009 for violating U.S.…
- Country & Corruption RiskIran still rates highly in terms of political risk, exchange rate risk, sovereign risk, and transfer risk due to its sponsorship of terror groups,…
- Banking & Money Laundering RiskBanks and other financial institutions run the risk of massive fines and/or frozen assets for Iran business. Iran is designated as area of primary…
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Eye on Iran is a news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a section 501(c)(3) organization. Eye on Iran is available to subscribers on a daily basis or weekly basis.