U.S. Pushes to Expedite Some Humanitarian Shipments to Iran

LONDON—During a diplomatic thaw earlier this year between Tehran and the West, U.S. officials had a message for European companies eager to get back into Iran: take it slow.

Today, Washington is pushing some of them to speed things up.

In recent weeks, U.S. officials have been reaching out to a handful of European companies and asking them to expedite the sale of medical goods to Iran, a market they were struggling to gain access to just a few months ago.

The shipment of humanitarian goods—including many types of food and medicine—by Western companies into Iran has long been allowed under U.S. and European sanctions. But as the standoff between Tehran and the West ratcheted higher over recent years, tougher financial sanctions often made the logistics of funding such deals impossible.

Many other companies, eager to avoid running foul of U.S. Treasury sanctions against dealing with Iranian banks, simply stopped selling goods in Iran. Now, as part of a temporary, sanctions relief deal agreed earlier this year, Washington is seeking to make that financing easier.

For instance, the U.S. is clearing banks in Switzerland and Japan to help handle payments for the shipments, according to a U.S. official familiar with the initiative. And it is allowing them to access Iranian oil revenue—above and beyond what has already been unfrozen by the sanctions relief—as payment for the shipments, this official said.

The aim is to show goodwill amid the current détente between the West and Tehran. Earlier this month, the two sides extended a deal in which Iran agreed to scale back its nuclear program while the West agreed to temporarily ease sanctions in certain sectors.

The move to help finance humanitarian shipments is intended "to send a reminder (that the West is) not targeting the average Iranian," another U.S. official involved in the effort said.

European drug makers Bayer AG BAYN.XE +0.59% and GlaxoSmithKline GSK.LN -0.60% PLC, as well as Siemens AG SIE.XE +0.14% —which has a large medical-equipment business—have all been approached by Washington officials eager to speed up the sale of humanitarian goods into Iran, according to executives and one of the U.S. officials.

Iran identified specific pharmaceutical companies that it wanted to trade with, "we have notified those companies that this (payment channel) is available to them," one of the U.S. officials said.

A spokesman for Bayer said the company was "contacted by the U.S. State Department in June about the new payment mechanism," at Iran's request. A Siemens spokesman said the State Department had reached out to international companies to discuss concerns that "humanitarian sales to Iran were being stymied by…uncertainties about the (U.S. Treasury) licensing process, and the reluctance of banks to serve as financial intermediaries."

A GSK spokesman said the drug giant supplies "essential medicines in sanctioned countries, in compliance with applicable sanctions and export controls." Bayer, Siemens and GSK declined to elaborate further.

The U.S. approach comes as some American companies make early steps to restart business with Iran amid the sanctions relief. Last week, Boeing Co. BA -0.32% disclosed it was in talks to sell airplane parts and other safety equipment to Iran Air.

As part of its sanctions relief, the U.S. has lifted prohibitions on doing business with companies related to several industries, including commercial aviation, automobiles and petrochemicals.

To accelerate the humanitarian trade, U.S. officials have clarified legitimate payment channels for the shipments.

Japan's Mizuho Financial Group Inc. 8411.TO +1.45% said in a filing last week that it has been providing non-U.S. dollars settlement services in connection with humanitarian trade with Iran after getting a specific clearance from the U.S. government as part of the interim nuclear agreement. The bank, which couldn't be reached for comment, said it had opened accounts for Iranian state financial institutions, specifically for food and medical trade between U.S.-approved food and medical exporters and Iran.

At least one Swiss bank, Banque Heritage SA, has been given approval by the U.S. to facilitate humanitarian-trade financing, according to Parviz Aghili, chief executive of the recently-created Middle East Bank in Tehran. Banque Heritage officials declined to comment.

Middle East Bank, a privately-owned bank, has been approved by the U.S. because it only trades in humanitarian goods. That enables Middle East Bank to work with other banks to facilitate payment for humanitarian goods. He said those banks include ABN Amro Bank NV of the Netherlands; KBC Group KBC.BT +0.45% NV of Belgium and German savings bank Sparkasse Leverkusen, which is assisting in Bayer's Iranian exports.

ABN and KBC confirmed they are helping their clients secure payments for humanitarian exports to Iran. Sparkasse Leverkusen didn't respond to a request for comment.

WSJ