In connection with the Iranian nuclear issue, the Government of Japan has been implementing a series of measures against Iran's nuclear activities based on United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions 1737, 1747, 1803 and 1929.

In light of the current situation over the Iranian nuclear issue, such as the adoption of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors' Resolution (issued on November 18, 2011) on Iran's Nuclear Issue that expressed deep and increasing concerns regarding the outstanding issues of Iran's nuclear program, the Government of Japan decided to add the following measures, based on the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (hereinafter to be referred to as "the Foreign Exchange Act"), in line with the Cabinet approval on December 9, 2011, "Additional Accompanying Measures pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution on Iran", so as to contribute to the international efforts for the international peace.

(1) Asset Freeze
106 entities and 1 individual (Annex 1[PDF]) which could contribute to Iran's proliferation-sensitive activities or the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems are designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice (issued on December 9, 2011), and their assets are frozen based on the Foreign Exchange Act.

(2) Termination of Correspondent Banking Relationships with Designated Banks through Asset Freeze
3 Iranian banks (Annex 2[PDF]) which could contribute to Iran's proliferation-sensitive activities or the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems are designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice (issued on December 9, 2011), and their assets are frozen based on the Foreign Exchange Act, with the effect that correspondent banking relationships with those banks are halted.
[NOTE] Scrutiny of Customer Identification to the Authorities

As the other measures on Iran, in response to the statement* (issued on October 28, 2011) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which is an inter-governmental body comprised of 34 member jurisdictions and regional organizations, the Government of Japan advises financial institutions to scrutinize customer identifications, to file reports with the authorities upon detection of any suspicious transactions, and to notify about the foreign exchange transaction as required by the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds.

*This statement called on to consider possible additional safeguards or strengthen existing measures to protect their financial sectors from money laundering and financing of terrorism (ML/FT) risks emanating from Iran.

(*The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)