Article 2
1.
All funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by persons responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran, and all funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by persons and entities associated with them, as listed in the Annex, shall be frozen.
2.
No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of the persons and entities listed in the Annex.
3.
The competent authority of a Member State may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources, under such conditions as it deems appropriate, after having determined that the funds or economic resources concerned are:
(a)
necessary to satisfy the basic needs of the persons listed in the Annex and their dependent family members, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges;
(b)
intended exclusively for the payment of reasonable professional fees and the reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services;
(c)
intended exclusively for the payment of fees or service charges for the routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources; or
(d)
necessary for extraordinary expenses, provided that the competent authority has notified the competent authorities of the other Member States and the Commission of the grounds on which it considers that a specific authorisation should be granted, at least 2 weeks prior to the authorisation.
The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under this paragraph.
4.
By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the competent authorities of a Member State may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, provided that the following conditions are met:
(a)
the funds or economic resources are the subject of a judicial, administrative or arbitral lien established prior to the date on which the person or entity referred to in paragraph 1 was listed in the Annex, or of a judicial, administrative or arbitral judgment rendered prior to that date;
(b)
the funds or economic resources will be used exclusively to satisfy claims secured by such a lien or recognised as valid in such a judgment, within the limits set by applicable laws and regulations governing the rights of persons having such claims;
(c)
the lien or judgment is not for the benefit of a person or entity listed in the Annex; and
(d)
recognising the lien or judgement is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned.
The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under this paragraph.
5.
Paragraph 1 shall not prevent a listed person or an entity from making a payment due under a contract entered into prior to the date on which such person or entity was listed in the Annex, provided that the Member State concerned has determined that the payment is not directly or indirectly received by a person or entity referred to in paragraph 1.
6.
Paragraph 2 shall not apply to the addition to frozen accounts of:
(a)
interest or other earnings on those accounts; or
(b)
payments due under contracts, agreements or obligations that were concluded or arose prior to the date on which those accounts became subject to the measures provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2;
provided that any such interest, other earnings and payments remain subject to the measures provided for in paragraph 1.