## Facts

- Ali Amirnazmi, a dual U.S.–Iranian citizen and chemical engineer, founded TranTech Consultants, Inc., which sold a proprietary chemical-planning software product called “ChemPlan.”
- ChemPlan combined a database (including proprietary data and expert analysis) with a dynamic planning tool that allowed users to run “what if” scenarios by adjusting variables to evaluate feasibility and costs for chemical projects.
- ChemPlan was marketed to major chemical manufacturers, and its licensing agreement characterized the software and underlying information as valuable trade secrets, including proprietary algorithms and concepts.
- Beginning in the mid-1990s, Amirnazmi pursued relationships with Iranian petrochemical entities, including Iran’s state-owned National Petrochemical Company, with the goal of assisting Iran’s chemical industry and facilitating construction of multiple chemical plants.
- During the relevant period, U.S. sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations generally prohibited exporting goods, technology, or services to Iran without a license, subject to an exemption for certain “informational materials.”
- After a jury trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Amirnazmi was convicted of four counts of IEEPA-related violations, three counts of making false statements, and three counts of bank fraud; the district court denied post-trial motions and imposed a four-year prison sentence.
- Amirnazmi appealed, challenging the constitutionality and clarity of IEEPA/OFAC, the applicability of the informational-materials exemption, and the sufficiency of the evidence and trial rulings.

## Issues

1. Whether IEEPA and OFAC’s Iran-related sanctions regulations violate separation of powers by unlawfully delegating legislative authority to the President.
2. Whether IEEPA and the relevant OFAC regulations are unconstitutionally vague as applied to exporting software-related technology and technical assistance.
3. Whether ChemPlan and Amirnazmi’s related activities qualified as exempt “informational materials” rather than prohibited exports of services or technology.
4. Whether sufficient evidence supported the convictions (including IEEPA counts, false statements, and bank fraud) and whether denial of motions for acquittal and a new trial was error.

## Decision

- The Third Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentence in full.
- The court held IEEPA’s delegation is constitutional because it contains meaningful constraints, including an emergency predicate, statutory limits on measures, and reporting/oversight mechanisms.
- The court held the OFAC regulations were not unconstitutionally vague as applied; they provided adequate notice that exporting services and technology to Iran without a license was prohibited.
- The court held the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Amirnazmi’s conduct fell outside the informational-materials exemption.
- The court held the evidence permitted a rational jury to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on the IEEPA, false-statement, and bank-fraud counts, and it upheld denial of post-trial motions.

## Legal Principles

- IEEPA is a valid delegation in the foreign-affairs and national-security context when statutory preconditions and oversight mechanisms meaningfully constrain executive discretion.
- OFAC sanctions regulations are not void for vagueness when, read with the statute, they give fair notice that exporting services or technology to a sanctioned country without a license is prohibited.
- The IEEPA “informational materials” exemption does not necessarily cover proprietary, functional, dynamic software tools and associated technical assistance aimed at enabling industrial projects; such items may constitute exports of technology or services subject to sanctions.
- On sufficiency review, convictions will be upheld where the record supports a rational finding that the defendant knowingly provided prohibited services/technology and committed the charged ancillary offenses.

## Conclusion

The Third Circuit sustained Amirnazmi’s sanctions-related and related fraud convictions, ruling that IEEPA and OFAC’s Iran export restrictions were constitutionally valid and sufficiently clear, and that exporting ChemPlan and related technical services to Iranian petrochemical entities was not protected by the informational-materials exemption.


United States v. Amirnazmi, 645 F.3d 564 (3d Cir. 2011)