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Between you and your assets in Iran stands US sanctions law — and it has a lawful passage.

Unlike Germany, there is no treaty any more: the 1955 Treaty of Amity was terminated by the United States in 2018 and lapsed in 2019. Iranian law reaches US courts as a question of evidence — through expert declarations. And for inherited assets in Iran, sanctions law contains a general licence few people know exists.

This page describes the interface between Iranian law and US practice. It is not legal advice — neither on US law nor on sanctions law; those assessments are made solely by US-admitted attorneys.

How Iranian law arrives in the US

No federal family law, no federal succession law, no treaty: three things that make the US case fundamentally different from the German one.

No treaty any more US law

The 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights between the US and Iran was terminated by the United States on 3 October 2018 and lapsed in 2019 after the treaty’s one-year notice period. Unlike Germany with its 1929 treaty, no treaty designates Iranian law. Which law applies is decided by the conflict rules of the individual state.

Foreign law as a matter of proof Both

In federal proceedings FRCP 44.1 allows the court to determine foreign law on the basis of any relevant material; the states have corresponding rules. In practice this is done through written expert declarations, with the possibility of rebuttal, deposition and trial testimony.

The difference from German procedure. In Germany the court ascertains the foreign law of its own motion and appoints the expert itself. In the US each side brings its own expert, and the declarations stand against each other. The opinion must therefore be written from the outset to withstand an opposing expert.

Succession

A US estate with Iranian assets has two locks: the state probate procedure — and sanctions law. There is a key for each.

Green card, visa, passport — what counts for what US law

Two regimes run side by side in the US, attaching differently. For succession, what counts is not citizenship but domicile and situs. For sanctions law, what counts is US-person status — and that begins long before the passport: a US person is the citizen, the green-card holder, and any person while in the United States (31 CFR § 560.314).

US citizenEstate follows domicile and situs; the Iran sanctions rules bind worldwide.
Green cardFor succession, like any person domiciled there. For sanctions, a full US person — including acts outside the US. The OFAC layer of this page therefore applies from the green card, not only from the passport.
Present on a visaWhile the person is in the United States, they are a US person within the regulations: Iran-related transactions from within the US fall under the prohibition and its licences.
Deceased last domiciled in Iran, assets or heirs in the USThe US proceedings are confined to the assets located there; the main proceedings are the Iranian ones. For the heirs in the US, the sanctions layer begins instead.
The contrast with Germany, in one sentence: in Germany the passport decides and residence is irrelevant — in the US it is almost the reverse: for the sanctions side, mere presence is enough, and for the estate the passport does not count at all.

Probate and applicable law US law

The state probate court has jurisdiction. US conflict rules generally attach movables to the last domicile and real property to its situs. For assets located in Iran, both routes lead to Iranian law and to the Iranian procedure.

What comes from me. The Iranian determination of heirs, registry searches for real property, accounts and company shares, the Iranian inheritance tax clearance and the transfer of title — through colleagues on the ground. For the US proceedings: the determination of heirs and shares under Iranian law as a declaration, in the form probate counsel needs.

The general licence for inherited property Both

31 CFR § 560.543 of the US Iran sanctions regulations authorises US persons to sell real and personal property in Iran and to transfer the proceeds to the United States — where the property was inherited from persons in Iran or acquired before the individual became a US person. Expressly included is engaging the persons in Iran needed for the sale, including an attorney and a broker.

The licence has hard edges: no direct involvement of a US bank with an Iranian counterpart — proceeds route through a third country; no winding down of a business; no reinvestment in Iran; no involvement of listed persons. Whether a specific case falls within the licence is decided solely by US counsel.

What comes from me. Exactly the chain the licence presupposes and the US bank wants to see: determination of heirs, proof of title from the Iranian register, the registered sale, the tax clearance — complete, legalised, translated, with a written explanation. The sanctions classification and the structuring of the transfer sit with the US adviser.

Marriage, divorce, mahr

Fifty family-law systems, none of which knows the mahr — and each answers differently what it is.

Mahr before US courts Both

Whether the mahr is enforced depends on the state and on its classification: as a contractual promise to pay, as a marital agreement with that form’s requirements, or as a religious arrangement the court will not touch. In community-property and equitable-distribution states the same mahr also carries different weight: alongside a half division in one, as a factor in the overall distribution in the other.

What comes from me. The certified extract of the Iranian marriage deed with the agreed mahr, its calculation under Iranian law including the statutory adjustment for price movement, the status of any Iranian proceedings — and the declaration that tells US family counsel what the mahr is in the Iranian system, and what it is not.

Recognition of an Iranian divorce US law

There is no nationwide recognition authority; US courts examine foreign divorces under comity — the Iranian forum’s jurisdiction, both spouses’ participation and notice, and consistency with the state’s public policy. A divorce registered in Iran of which one spouse knew practically nothing is the classic point of attack.

Children Both

Iran is not a party to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention; the treaty return route does not exist in relation to Iran. What remains are the state-law instruments and the Iranian proceedings on hezānat, velāyat and exit.

Banking, transfers and source of funds

The baseline of US sanctions is a prohibition with exceptions — not the other way round. Whoever transfers must be able to show which exception applies and which document carries it.

The framework US law

The Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 560) prohibit US persons, as a baseline, from virtually every transaction with Iran — including purely private ones. What is possible runs through general licences with their own conditions: for personal, non-commercial remittances, and for proceeds of inherited property. There is no direct banking link between the US and Iran; authorised transfers route through third-country institutions.

What comes from me. The same layer as before a German bank, only tested harder: which Iranian transaction stands behind the money, which registered document evidences it, and a written explanation for compliance — plus identification of the Iranian parties from the registry records, screened against the sanctions lists, with the result in writing.

Blocked funds, listings, name matches US law

Funds frozen at a US correspondent bank, applications for specific licences and release, SDN delisting, resolving mere name similarity — that is run by US-admitted attorneys from the network. My layer is the Iranian record and documentary position their applications stand on.

Limit. I make no sanctions determination. If a person involved is on a sanctions list, the matter is not accepted — not conditionally, not deferred, not revisited later. No funds run through me in any configuration.

Documents between Iran and the US

No diplomatic relations, no embassies, no apostille — and still a working route for every document. It is just longer.

The route Both

Iran’s consular functions in the US are performed by the Iranian Interests Section in Washington. US documents for Iran run through the American certification chain and then through that mission; Iranian powers of attorney by US-based Iranians are created through the Iranian foreign ministry portal and signed there. Iranian documents for US proceedings need certified translation and, depending on the court, proof of authenticity — if necessary through an expert declaration on Iranian documentary practice. Procedures, competences and fees change; the current position is checked before every step.

The commonest mistake is the same as everywhere: a power of attorney drawn too narrowly. The scope is settled before signature — every correction costs the whole chain from the start, and here the chain is at its longest.

Immigration and tax

This area is not mine. What follows is the demarcation — and the part I supply.

The demarcation US law

Visa categories, the green card, naturalisation and US tax liability are assessed solely by US-admitted attorneys and tax professionals — instructed separately, answering for their own advice. So is the question which routes are open to Iranian nationals and what role a second nationality plays in that.

What I supply Iranian law

In investor and entrepreneur routes, source of funds regularly decides the case: the money’s path must be documentarily closed from the Iranian source to the investment. That is precisely Iranian law — the registered sale, the determination of heirs, the distribution resolution, the tax file, each legalised and explained.

Alongside that, the Iranian side of the move itself: the power of attorney with the right scope for what continues in Iran, the civil status and family documents every US authority will demand, and the administration of the assets remaining in Iran.

Declarations for law firms and courts

In US proceedings the opinion does not stand alone — it must survive rebuttal, deposition and cross-examination.

Typical questions Iranian law

Succession and shares under Iranian law; validity of marriage and divorce; the legal nature, amount and maturity of the mahr; hezānat and velāyat; title and registry position of assets in Iran; shareholder standing and signing authority; authenticity and evidential value of Iranian documents; and whether Iran is genuinely available as an alternative forum — cause of action, limitation, jurisdiction, enforceability.

Separation of roles. In the same matter I act either for a party or as independent expert — never both. Remuneration is independent of the outcome; there is no success fee in any area.

Enquiries concerning the US

Outline the matter briefly by email and state what is to be achieved. You will receive an indication of which part falls to be settled under Iranian law and which part needs a US-admitted attorney. Please do not send confidential documents in a first message.

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