Delay of Sanctions

Statutory Text

(a) Delay of Sanctions.--

(1) Consultations.--If the President makes a determination described in section 5(a) or 5(b) with respect to a foreign person, the Congress urges the President to initiate consultations immediately with the government with primary jurisdiction over that foreign person with respect to the imposition of sanctions under this Act.

(2) Actions by government of jurisdiction.--In order to pursue consultations under paragraph (1) with the government concerned, the President may delay imposition of sanctions under this Act for up to 90 days. Following such consultations, the President shall immediately impose sanctions unless the President determines and certifies to the Congress that the government has taken specific and effective actions, including, as appropriate, the imposition of appropriate penalties, to terminate the involvement of the foreign person in the activi ties that resulted in the determination by the President under section 5(a) or 5(b) concerning such person.

(3) Additional delay in imposition of sanctions.--The President may delay the imposition of sanctions for up to an additional 90 days if the President determines and certifies to the Congress that the government with primary jurisdiction over the person concerned is in the process of taking the actions described in paragraph (2).

(4) Report to congress.--Not later than 90 days after making a determination under section 5(a) or 5(b), the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the status of consultations with the appropriate foreign government under this subsection, and the basis for any determination under paragraph (3).

Verbatim from the enrolled law as published by GovInfo; margin notes and page markers omitted. Pub. L. 104-172 on GovInfo · PDF · text fetched Oct. 17, 2026

How the Date Is Worked Out

1. Enacted Aug. 5, 1996 (Pub. L. 104-172).
2. Deadline runs from an event, not a calendar date: 90 days after making a determination under section 5(a) or 5(b).
3. No date can be set until the triggering event is publicly documented.

Delivery Status

Not publicly verifiable

Public Evidence

• No public document located that shows delivery.

Evidence Searched

• GovInfo Congressionally Mandated Reports collection: 1,209 packages listed; titles searched for Middle East terms; 55 State, Defense, Treasury and executive-office summaries checked for citations to Pub. L. 104-172 (0 found) (Oct. 17, 2026)
• Federal Register API: phrase “Iran Sanctions Act of 1996”: 60 document titles searched (Oct. 17, 2026)
• MEF hand review: evidence.json, items with a link and a note on what the document shows (Oct. 17, 2026)

A status of “Reported late by GAO, committee or agency” appears only with a linked GAO, committee or agency statement. Reports sent only to committees, or in classified form, leave no public trace; their absence here is not evidence of a missed deadline.

Review

• Machine-extracted by rule from the public law text; awaiting named human review.