¹ Daugirdas, Kristina & Mortenson, Julian Davis, Contemporary Practice of the United States, 109 AJIL 649, 649–63 (2015)Google Scholar [hereinafter Daugirdas & Mortenson, July AJIL]; 109 AJIL 874, 874–78 (2015) [hereinafter Daugirdas & Mortenson, Oct. AJIL]; see also Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, July 14, 2015, at http://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/iran/jcpoa/ [hereinafter JCPOA].

² Daugirdas & Mortenson, Oct. AJIL, supra note 1, at 874.

³ See generally JCPOA, supra note 1, Annex V.

⁴ Daugirdas & Mortenson, July AJIL, supra note 1, at 650–51.

⁵ See S.C. Res. 2231, para. 11 ( July 20, 2015). If “snapback” is triggered, the sanctions are automatically reimposed unless the UNSC affirmatively votes to continue sanctions relief. Id. As a result, a UNSC member with veto power can effectively ensure that the sanctions are put back into place.See Daugirdas & Mortenson, 109 AJIL, supra note1, at 653;see also U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, Explanation of Vote at a UN Security Council Vote on Resolution 2231 on Iran Non-proliferation, U.S. Mission to the United Nations ( July 20, 2015), at http://usun.state.gov/remarks/6765 (“If the terms of the deal are not followed, all sanctions that have been suspended can be snapped back into place. And if the United States or any other JCPOA participant believes that Iran is violating its commitments, we can trigger a process in the Security Council that will reinstate the UN sanctions.”).

⁶ See JCPOA, supra note1, Annex V, para. 6;Memorandum on Preparing for Implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of July 14, 2015 (JCPOA), 2015 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. 736 (Oct. 18, 2015), [here inafter Oct. 18 Presidential Memorandum].

⁷ See generally Daugirdas & Mortenson, Oct. AJIL, supra note 1.

⁸ JCPOA Contingent Waivers, U.S. Dep’t of State (Oct. 18, 2015), at http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/2015/248320.htm; see also Oct. 18 Presidential Memorandum, supra note 6 (directing various Cabinet members “to take all necessary steps to give effect to the U.S. commitments with respect to sanctions described in section 17 of Annex V of the JCPOA, including preparation for the termination of Executive Orders as specified in section 17.4 and the licensing of activities as set forth in section 17.5”).

⁹ European Council Press Release, Iran Nuclear Deal: Council Adopts the Legal Acts to Prepare for the Lifting of All Nuclear-Related Economic and Financial EU Sanctions (Oct. 18, 2015), at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/10/18-iran-nuclear-deal/.

¹⁰ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (Oct. 18, 2015), at http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/10/248311.htm.

¹¹ Daugirdas & Mortenson, Oct. AJIL, supra note 1, at 877.

¹² JCPOA, supra note 1, Annex V, para. 15; see also id. Annex I (detailing necessary steps).

¹³ Statement on the Adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to Prevent Iran From Obtaining a Nuclear Weapon, 2015 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. 734 (Oct. 18, 2015).

¹⁴ Iranian officials said this highly enriched material was for a specialty reactor to make medical isotopes. Sanger, David E. & Kramer, Andrew E., Iran Hands Over Stockpile of Enriched Uranium to Russia, N.Y. Times, Dec. 28, 2015, at A4 Google Scholar.

¹⁵ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, An Update on Progress Toward Implementation Day of the JCPOA (Dec. 28, 2015), at http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/12/250876.htm [hereinafter Dec. 28 Progress Update].

¹⁶ Sam Wilkin, Keen to Lift Sanctions, Iran to Ship Enriched Uranium to Russia Within Days, Wash. Post (Dec. 19, 2015), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iran-will-export-most-of-its-enriched-uranium-to-russia/2015/12/19/9914bc9c-a68e-11e5-9c4e-be37f66848bb_story.html; Sanger & Kramer, supra note 14.

¹⁷ Sanger & Kramer, supra note 14.

¹⁸ See Dec. 28 Progress Update, supra note 15; Sanger & Kramer, supra note 14.

¹⁹ Erdbrink, Thomas, Iran Begins Deactivating Centrifuges Under Nuclear Deal’s Terms, N.Y. Times, Nov. 2, 2015, at A9 Google Scholar.

²⁰ Dec. 28 Progress Update, supra note 15.

²¹ See Kelsey Davenport, Iran Dismantling Centrifuges, IAEA Reports, Arms Control Ass’n (Nov. 19, 2015), at https://www.armscontrol.org/blog/ArmsControlNow/2015-11-19/Iran-Dismantling-Centrifuges-IAEA-Reports.

²² Peter Kenyon, As Iran Moves Swiftly on Nuclear Deal, Sanctions Could Go Soon, NPR ( Jan. 1, 2016), at http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/01/01/461610337/as-iran-moves-swiftly-on-nuclear-deal-sanctions-could-go-soon.

²³ See JCPOA, supra note 1, para. 14 (requiring that Iran “fully implement the ‘Roadmap for Clarification of Past and Present Outstanding Issues’ agreed with the IAEA, containing arrangements to address past and present issues of concern relating to [Iran’s] nuclear programme”).

²⁴ Davenport, supra note 21.

²⁵ Ayatollah Khamenei: Sanctions Snapback Means JCPOA Violation, Office of the Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei (Oct. 21, 2015), at http://www.leader.ir/en/content/13791/Ayatollah-Khamenei-sends-a-letter-to-President-Hassan-Rouhani-about-the-JCPOA.

²⁶ Int’l Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], Final Assessment on Past and Present Outstanding Issues Regarding Iran’s Nuclear Programme, at 14, para.5, IAEA Doc. GOV/2015/68 (Dec.2, 2015) [hereinafter Final Assessment]. Notably, the report addressed the Parchin military installation, which has been a particular concern among members of Congress. See Daugirdas & Mortenson, Oct. AJIL, supra note 1, at 878. The report described the Agency’s visual examination and environmental sampling at Parchin and concluded that no explosives firing chamber currently exists on the site. But it also noted that “extensive activities” at the site in recent years had “seriously undermined the Agency’s ability to conduct effective verification” there. Final Assessment, supra note 26, at 10–11, paras. 48–57.

²⁷ Rodolfo Quevenco, IAEA Board Adopts Landmark Resolution on Iran PMD Case, IAEA (Dec. 15, 2015), at https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-board-adopts-landmark-resolution-iran-pmd-case.

²⁸ See IAEA, Bd. Of Governors Res., Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Implementation and Verification and Monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in Light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231(2015), IAEA Doc. GOV/2015/72 (Dec. 15, 2015).

²⁹ Karen DeYoung, IAEA Closes Its Investigation of Iran’s Past Nuclear Weapons Activities, Wash. Post (Dec. 15, 2015), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/iaea-closes-its-investigation-of-irans-past-nuclear-weapons-activities/2015/12/15/15987ad0-a37c-11e5-9c4e-be37f66848bb_story.html (quoting Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker’s claim that the “IAEA process . . .was not conducted with integrity, [and] the nuclear deal is getting off to a terrible start”).

³⁰ IAEA Press Release, IAEA Director General’s Statement on Iran (Jan. 16, 2016), at https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-director-general%E2%80%99s-statement-iran [hereinafter IAEA Statement].

³¹ IAEA, Verification and Monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in Light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), at 1–4, IAEA Doc. GOV/INF/2016/1 (Jan. 16, 2016).

³² See JCPOA, supra note 1, Annex V, para. 14; see also U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Remarks on Implementation Day ( Jan. 16, 2016), at http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/01/251336.htm [hereinafter Remarks on Implementation Day] (“In the words of the [JCPOA] itself, today . . . we have reached implementation day.”).

³³ Remarks on Implementation Day, supra note 32.

³⁴ IAEA Statement, supra note 30.

³⁵ S.C. Res. 2231, para. 7(a) (July 20, 2015).

³⁶ European Council Press Release, Iran: Council Lifts All Nuclear-Related Economic and Financial EU Sanctions (Jan. 16, 2016), at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/01/16-iran-council-lifts-all-nuclear-related-eu-sanctions/; see also European Council, Information Note on EU Sanctions to Be Lifted Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ( Jan. 23, 2016), available at http://eeas.europa.eu/top_stories/pdf/iran_implementation/information_note_eu_sanctions_jcpoa_en.pdf.

³⁷ See U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Frequently Asked Questions Relating to the Lifting of Certain U.S. Sanctions Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)on Implementation Day, at A.6 (Jan. 16, 2016), available at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/jcpoa_faqs.pdf [hereinafter OFAC FAQs].

³⁸ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Confirmation of Verification of Iranian Actions Pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( Jan. 16, 2016), at http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/01/251332.htm. For a description of the Adoption Day waivers, see supra note 8 and accompanying text.

³⁹ See Exec. Order No. 13, 716, 81 Fed. Reg. 3693 (2016) [hereinafter Exec. Order No. 13716]; see also Exec. Order No. 13, 574, 3 C.F.R. § 245 (2012); Exec. Order No. 13,590, 3 C.F.R. § 284 (2012); Exec. Order No. 13,622, 3 C.F.R. § 290 (2013); Exec. Order No. 13,645, 3 C.F.R. § 298 (2014). Obama also amended Executive Order 13628 to remove specific sections that provided for similar petrochemical and energy-sector-related sanctions.

⁴⁰ See JCPOA-related Designation Removals, JCPOA Designation Updates, Foreign Sanctions Evaders Removals, NS-ISA List Removals; 13599 List Changes, U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury ( Jan. 16, 2016), at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/updated_names.aspx.

⁴¹ See generally Exec. Order No. 13,716, supra note 39; U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury & Dep’t of State, Guidance Relating to the Lifting of Certain U.S. Sanctions Pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Implementation Day 33 & n.85 (Jan. 16, 2016), available at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/implement_guide_jcpoa.pdf [hereinafter Sanctions Guidance]. The order provides that implementation authorities for sanctions under Sections 1244(c)(1)(A), 1244(d)(1)(A), 1245(a)(1), and 1246(a)of the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 apply only to the extent that sanctions are imposed with respect to transactions or activities that are outside the scope of the JCPOA. Id. at 33 n.85.

⁴² Sanger, David E., Iran Complies with Nuclear Deal; Sanctions Are Lifted, N.Y. Times, Jan. 16, 2016, at A1 Google Scholar; see also OFAC FAQS, supra note 37, at A.2.

⁴³ Sanger, supra note 42; see also OFAC FAQS, supra note 37, at A.3.i.

⁴⁴ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Daily Press Briefing ( Jan. 15, 2016), at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/01/251318.htm.

⁴⁵ Remarks on Iran, 2015 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. 22 (Jan. 17, 2016) [hereinafter Remarks on Iran]; see also OFAC FAQS, supra note 37, at A.3.ii–.A.3.iii (outlining sanctions retained by United States).

⁴⁶ See Sanger, supra note 42 (“The Iranians beat, by months, the C.I.A. and Energy Department estimates of how long it would take them to dismantle [their nuclear program].”).

⁴⁷ Erdbrink, Thomas, Iran Tests Long-Range Missile, Possibly Violating Nuclear Accord, N.Y. Times, Oct. 11, 2016, at A7 Google Scholar.

⁴⁸ See Letter from Sen. Kelly Ayotte & Sen. Mark Kirk to Barack Obama, President of the United States (Oct. 14, 2015), available at https://www.ayotte.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2260 (suggesting that the missile launch violated UNSC Resolution 1929, which had been adopted in 2010); S.C. Res. 1929, para. 9 (June 9, 2010).

⁴⁹ Letter from Sen. Bob Corker, et al. to John Kerry, U.S. Sec’y of State (Oct. 14, 2015), available at http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Iran%20Missile%20Test%20Letter%20to%20Sec%20Kerry%20101415.pdf

⁵⁰ U.S. Mission to the UN Press Release, Statement on Activities in the Security Council Responding to Iran’s Recent Ballistic Missile Test (Oct. 21, 2015), at http://usun.state.gov/remarks/6909.

⁵¹ Letter from Julia Frifield, Assistant Sec’y, Legislative Affairs, U.S. Dep’t of State to Sen. Bob Corker, Chairman, Comm. on Foreign Relations 1 (Nov. 13, 2015), available at http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/111315%20State%20Department%20Response%20to%20Letter%20on%20Iranian%20Ballistic%20Missile%20Test.pdf [hereinafter Frifield Letter].

⁵² Id. at 2.

⁵³ Louis Charbonneau, Iran’s October Missile Test Violated U.N. Ban: Expert Panel, Reuters (Dec. 16, 2015), at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-missiles-un-exclusive-idUSKBN0TY1T920151216; see also Iran’s Attempt to Procure Titanium Alloy Was Violation of Anti-Proliferation Resolution 1737 (2006), Sanctions Committee Tells Security Council, United Nations (Dec. 15, 2015), at http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12163.doc.htm (noting Panel’s conclusion and submission of the report to the 1737 Iran Sanctions Committee).

⁵⁴ See JCPOA, supra note 1.

⁵⁵ S.C. Res. 2231, para. 7(b) (July 20, 2015) (emphasis added); id., Annex B, para. 3. The relevant provision was not to take effect until Implementation Day, at which point Resolution 1929 would be terminated and replaced in effect by Resolution 2231. See id. (noting that certain provisions, including the ballistic missile provision, will only apply “on the date on which the IAEA Director General submits a report verifying that Iran has taken the actions specified in paragraph 15.1-15.11 of Annex V of the JCPOA”); see also id., para. 7(a) (specifying that Resolution 1929, among others, would be terminated on Implementation Day).

⁵⁶ Frifield Letter, supra note 1, at 2 (emphasis added).

⁵⁷ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Background Briefing on the JCPOA Adoption Day (Oct. 17,2015), at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/10/248310.htm (emphasis added).

⁵⁸ Adam Kredo, Obama Admin: Iranian Ballistic Missile Tests Not a Nuke Deal Violation, Wash. Free Beacon (Sept. 16, 2015), at http://freebeacon.com/national-security/obama-admin-iranian-ballistic-missile-tests-not-a-nuke-deal-violation/.

⁵⁹ Sanger, David E., U.S. Cautious on Iran Missile Test Claim, N.Y. Times, Dec. 8, 2015, at A19 Google Scholar.

⁶⁰ Letter from Sen. Kelly Ayotte & Sen. Mark Kirk to Barack Obama, President of the United States (Dec. 8, 2015), available at https://www.ayotte.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2367; Letter from Rep. Ted Deutch & Rep. Joseph F. Kennedy III to Barack Obama, President of the United States (Dec. 8, 2015), available at https://kennedy.house.gov/sites/kennedy.house.gov/files/Kennedy%20Deutch%20Iran%20Missile%20Letter.pdf

⁶¹ U.S. Mission to the UN Press Release, Remarks at the Security Council Stakeout Following Consultations on the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) (Dec. 8, 2015), at http://usun.state.gov/remarks/7026.

⁶² Id.

⁶³ White House Press Release, Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest (Dec. 15, 2015), at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/15/press-briefing-press-secretary-josh-earnest-12152015.

⁶⁴ Id.

⁶⁵ Id.

⁶⁶ See Letter from Sen. Kelly Ayotte et al. to Barack Obama, President of the United States (Dec. 16, 2015), available at http://www.ayotte.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2393 (urging Obama to not lift sanctions against Iran as required by JCPOA).

⁶⁷ See Letter from Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin et al. to Barack Obama, President of the United States (Dec. 17, 2015), available at http://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/ranking/release/twenty-one-democratic-senators-express-profound-concern-over-second-iranian-ballistic-missile-test-in-letter-to-president-obama (requesting that United States take action unilaterally or in coordination with European allies to punish violations of Resolution 1929).

⁶⁸ Cooper, Helene & Sanger, David E., Iran’s Missile Tests Remind the U.S. That Tensions Have Not Ended, N.Y. Times, Dec. 30, 2015, at A4 Google Scholar.

⁶⁹ Leader’s Top Aide: Iran to Reciprocate US Sanctions, Fars News Agency (Dec. 31, 2015), at http://en.fars-news.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941010000615.

⁷⁰ Tehran Slams US Interventionist Policies Towards Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Dec. 31, 2015), at http://prague.mfa.ir/index.aspx?fkeyid=&siteid=3&pageid=2021&newsview=373727.

⁷¹ President’s Order to Defence Minister Following American Hostile Practices, Official Website of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Dec. 31, 2015), at http://www.president.ir/en/91109.

⁷² Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani), Twitter (Dec. 31, 2015, 8:47 AM), at https://twitter.com/HassanRouhani/status/682603880383954946.

⁷³ The prisoner swap is discussed in further detail below.

⁷⁴ U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury Press Release, Treasury Sanctions Those Involved in Ballistic Missile Procurement for Iran (Jan. 17, 2016), at https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl0322.aspx [hereinafter Jan. 17 Treasury Sanctions].

⁷⁵ Id.; see also Office of Foreign Assets Control, Non-proliferation Designations – January 17, 2016, U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury (Jan. 17, 2016), at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20160117.aspx. OFAC designated these persons for sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13382. See Jan. 17 Treasury Sanctions, supra note 74. That order automatically blocks, following OFACs designation, the use or transfer of any property and interests in property in the United States belonging to “any foreign person determined . . . to have engaged, or attempted to engage, in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery (including missiles capable of delivering such weapons)[,] . . . [and] any person determined . . . to have provided, or attempted toprovide, financial, material, technological or other support for [those foreign persons].” Exec. Order No. 13,382 § 1(a), 3 C.F.R. § 170 (2005). Exercising the power delegated to it to by Executive Order 13,382, see id. at 172, OFAC sanctioned those eleven persons “for having provided, or attempting to provide, financial, material, technological, or other support” to previously-sanctioned companies. See Jan. 17 Treasury Sanctions, supra note 74.

⁷⁶ Remarks on Iran, supra note 45.

⁷⁷ See Erdbrink, Thomas, Iran Tests More Missiles in Message to Israel and Biden, N.Y. Times, Mar. 9, 2016, at A7 Google Scholar.

⁷⁸ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Daily Press Briefing (Mar. 8, 2016), at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/03/254101.htm.

⁷⁹ See supra note 57 and accompanying text.

⁸⁰ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Daily Press Briefing (Mar. 14, 2016), at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/03/254684.htm.

⁸¹ U.S. Mission to the UN Press Release, Remarks at the Security Council Stakeout Following Consultations on Iran (Mar. 14, 2016), at http://usun.state.gov/remarks/7187.

⁸² Louis Charbonneau & Michelle Nichols, Iran Seen Escaping U.N. Sanctions Over Missiles Due to Ambiguous Resolution, Reuters (Mar. 17, 2016), at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-missiles-un-idUSKCN0WJ2XY.

⁸³ See, e.g., Sam Wilkin & Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, Clinton Calls for Sanctions on Iran after More Missile Tests, Reuters (Mar. 9, 2016), at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-missiles-idUSKCN0WB0I9.

⁸⁴ See Iran Ballistic Missile Sanctions Act of 2016, S. 2725, 114th Cong. (2016).

⁸⁵ White House Press Release, Press Briefing by the Press Secretary Josh Earnest (Mar. 14, 2016), at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/14/press-briefing-press-secretary-josh-earnest-3142016.

⁸⁶ White House Press Release, Statement by the Press Secretary on H.R. 2029 (Dec. 18, 2015), at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/18/statement-press-secretary-hr-2029; H.R. Res. 2029, Div. O, Title II, 114th Cong. (2015) (enacted).

⁸⁷ See H.R. Res. 2029, Div. O § 203.

⁸⁸ Erdbrink, Thomas, Iran Says New U.S. Visa Rule May Violate Nuclear Pact, N.Y. Times, Dec. 21, 2015, at A4 Google Scholar.

⁸⁹ Zarif Calls New US Visa Law Breach of Nuclear Deal, Iran Daily (Dec. 23, 2015), at http://www.iran-daily.com/News/133552.html.

⁹⁰ Letter from John Kerry, Sec’y of State, to Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Dec. 19, 2015), available at http://www.niacouncil.org/text-sec-kerry-letter-to-zarif-regarding-visa-waiver-reform/.

⁹¹ Letter from Rep. Kevin McCarthy et al. to John Kerry, Sec’y of State, and Jeh Johnson, Sec’y of Homeland Sec. 1 (Dec. 22, 2015), available at http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/sites/republicans.foreignaffairs.house.gov/files/12-22-15%20Letter%20to%20Secretaries%20Kerry%20and%20Johnson.pdf.

⁹² U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Daily Press Briefing (Dec. 22, 2015), at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2015/12/250824.htm.

⁹³ Remarks on Iran, supra note 45.

⁹⁴ Id. The individuals were Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, Matthew Trevithick, and Jason Rezaian.

⁹⁵ Fandos, Nicholas, Details of 7 Iranians Granted Clemency in Prisoner Swap, N.Y. Times, Jan. 17, 2016, at A7 Google Scholar.

⁹⁶ Remarks on Iran, supra note 45; Remarks on Implementation Day, supra note 32.

⁹⁷ Remarks on Implementation Day, supra note 32.

⁹⁸ Remarks on Iran, supra note 45.

⁹⁹ White House Press Release, Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on Iran ( Jan. 17, 2016), at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/17/press-call-senior-administration-officials-iran [hereinafter Jan. 17 Press Call]; Fandos, supra note 95.

¹⁰⁰ Sanger, supra note 42; see also Carol Morello, Iran’s Missile Tests Are Spurring Calls from Congress for More Sanctions, Wash. Post ( Jan. 7, 2016), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/irans-missile-tests-are-spurring-calls-from-congress-for-more-sanctions/2016/01/07/ce8582d8-b54a-11e5-a76a-0b5145e8679a_story.html (quoting an Iran analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as saying: “There are no risk-free options. . . . Sanctioning Iran now could unravel the nuclear deal. Yet acquiescing in the face of Iranian provocations could embolden Iran”).

¹⁰¹ Jan. 17 Press Call, supra note 99.

¹⁰² Id.

¹⁰³ Remarks on Iran, supra note 45.

¹⁰⁴ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Statement, John Kerry, Hague Claims Tribunal Settlement (Jan. 17, 2016), at http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/01/251338.htm.

¹⁰⁵ White House Press Release, Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest (Jan. 19, 2016), at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/19/press-briefing-press-secretary-josh-earnest-1192016 [herein after Jan. 19 Press Briefing].

¹⁰⁶ Basij Commander: US Bought Freedom of Spies by Releasing $1.7 bln of Iran’s Frozen Assets, Fars News Agency (Jan. 20, 2016), at http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941030001016; Karoun Demirjian, Republicans Call for Inquiry into Whether Obama Paid ‘Ransom’ to Iran, Wash. Post (Jan. 22, 2016), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/republicans-calling-for-inquiry-into-whether-obama-paid-ransom-to-free-american-prisoners/2016/01/22/ce45a1e6-a806-4134-9327-88657731e6c5_story.html.

¹⁰⁷ Letter from Edward R. Royce, Chairman, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, to John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State (Feb. 3, 2016), available at http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/sites/republicans.foreignaffairs.house.gov/files/02.03.16%20-%20DOS%2C%20Secretary%2C%20John%20F%20Kerry%2C%20Concerns%20re%20%241.7%20Billion%20Payout%20to%20Iran.pdf

¹⁰⁸ Demirjian, supra note 106.

¹⁰⁹ Jan. 19 Press Briefing, supra note 105; U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Daily Press Briefing (Jan. 20, 2016), at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/01/251537.htm (“There was no bribe, there was no ransom, there was nothing paid to secure the return of these Americans who were, by the way, not spies.”).

¹¹⁰ Jan. 19 Press Briefing, supra note 105.

¹¹¹ Jan. 17 Press Call, supra note 99.

¹¹² Jan. 19 Press Briefing, supra note 105.

¹¹³ Gladstone, Rick, U.S. Delivers Art to Iran That Had Been Impounded Since 1979, N.Y. Times, Dec. 18, 2015, at A6 Google Scholar. The exact date of the transfer is unclear; a State Department official stated only that the delivery occurred “in the last couple of months.” Id.

¹¹⁴ See id.

¹¹⁵ See id. ;Iran Takes Back Part of Its Blocked Interests from US After 37 Years, Islamic Republic News Agency (Dec. 18, 2015), at http://www.irna.ir/en/News/81883904/.

¹¹⁶ Herszenhorn, David M., Americans Held Hostage in Iran Win Compensation 36 Years Later, N.Y. Times, Dec. 24, 2015, at A1 Google Scholar.

¹¹⁷ See H.R. Res. 2029, Div. O § 404(c)(2)(B)–(C), 114th Cong. (2015) (enacted).

¹¹⁸ Herszenhorn, supra note 116. The exact amount that each hostage will receive depends on the number of victims who file claims, as well as the success of judgment enforcement in earlier cases involving victims of terrorist attacks.

¹¹⁹ Id.

¹²⁰ See supra note 66 and accompanying text.

¹²¹ Remarks on Iran, supra note 45.

¹²² Jan. 17 Press Call, supra note 99.

¹²³ U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Daily Press Briefing (Jan. 13, 2016), at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/01/251198.htm.