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I am not a lawyer or diplomat or expert on trade, but I can make some general observations from an American/Western perspective: First, the sanctions on Iran a

I am not a lawyer or diplomat or expert on trade, but I can make some general observations from an American/Western perspective: First, the sanctions on Iran are such that any partnership with an Iranian person for business reasons is effectively impossible in the West, without the resources of a multi-million or billion-dollar company to circumvent them. The author says "I am not looking for anyone to bypass sanctions" but that is very obviously exactly what they are asking for. Second, circumventing sanctions is illegal, and people regularly go to prison or are given massive monetary fines for this. OP, I don't question your motives, but you need to understand that people have literally gone to prison and lost their whole livelihoods for doing exactly what you are asking. Therefore, posting this on a Western platform (Github) and advertising it on a Western message board (HN) is unlikely to help. I don't think the author's intentions are poor; I think they may simply not understand the intensity of the legal regime that makes working with them impossible. There is also the matter of Westerners' general opinions on Iran, which - general attitudes of multiculturalism and tolerance nonwithstanding - is typically quite negative. The sanctions didn't come from nowhere. I would recommend the author look into partnerships with persons from countries that are more sympathetic to their situation. The ones with strong tech industries would be Russia, China, and India. Vietnam is another example of a country with some tech industry which also has mostly positive relationships with Western countries, these days. I realize this is not as attractive as the West, but there are good people even in places whose governments I may as a Westerner may not particularly like, and English is a lingua franca the world over. I'd strongly recommend those places as a starting point.

echend 11mo ago
Thank you for this thoughtful response. You're raising legitimate concerns I may not fully understand. Let me clarify my understanding (and please correct me if I'm wrong): My assumption was that a structure like this would be legal: - Partner in US/UK registers their own company - Opens Stripe under their company name - Hires me as a remote contractor (like any distributed team) - I hold equity as a foreign shareholder (which I thought was legal for non-US persons) Is your point that even this structure violates sanctions because I'm Iranian? Or that the risk/complexity makes it impractical for anyone without massive legal resources? I genuinely don't want anyone to break the law. If what I'm proposing is illegal even in the structure above, I need to understand that. Re: Russia/China/India - that's solid advice I hadn't seriously considered. Russia and China have their own complexities, but India makes a lot of sense. Do you know if Indian tech companies face similar restrictions when working with Iranians, or is it more open? I appreciate you taking the time to explain this clearly rather than just dismissing it. If the Western partnership path is genuinely impossible (not just hard), I need to know that.
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
- ivraatiems 11mo ago
  > My assumption was that a structure like this would be legal: - Partner in US/UK registers their own company - Opens Stripe under their company name - Hires me as a remote contractor (like any distributed team) - I hold equity as a foreign shareholder (which I thought was legal for non-US persons) That structure is explicitly illegal because you are an Iranian national. It does not matter whether you are a contractor: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/31/560.419 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/31/560.419 US business entities may not ever do business with Iran for any reason: https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2012/10/iran-sanctions-us-bans-foreign-subsidiaries-of-us https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2012/10/iran-... See also: https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/56536/can-a-us-company-employ-iranian-person-outside-us https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/56536/can-a-us-compa... > Is your point that even this structure violates sanctions because I'm Iranian? Yes. > Or that the risk/complexity makes it impractical for anyone without massive legal resources? Companies on the scale of Toyota or Huawei try to circumvent these sanctions. They are regularly found out and caught and prosecuted: > Do you know if Indian tech companies face similar restrictions when working with Iranians, or is it more open? Sorry, I'm not Indian and have no knowledge of Indian laws. I would strongly advise you seek legal counsel from a person familiar with them, preferably a barrister/solicitor (in Indian terms). > If the Western partnership path is genuinely impossible (not just hard), I need to know that. For all intents and purposes, for you, it is. I'm sorry, genuinely, that our countries are in this position with regards to each other. It isn't your fault, but it is how it is. Editing to add: the ONLY exception I can think of to this would be if you flee Iran, plead for and are granted asylum in the United States or a third country with better relationships to it. This is extraordinarily hard, and possibly a violation of Iranian law for me to even suggest to you.
  - bawolff 11mo ago
    > Editing to add: the ONLY exception I can think of to this would be if you flee Iran, plead for and are granted asylum in the United States or a third country with better relationships to it. This is extraordinarily hard, and possibly a violation of Iranian law for me to even suggest to you. Couldnt they just immigrate normally? I dont know how this all works, but there is a reasonably large size group of Iranian expats in my country (canada), many of them with jobs in the tech sector. I think they are just normal immigrants and not asylum seekers. I imagine its hard (especially with the current gov taking an anti-immigration tone), but probably a lot easier than getting asylum in usa.
LarsDu88 11mo ago
Would Singapore work? English is quite widely spoken there and the tech scene is quite good.
- ivraatiems 11mo ago
  I'm not sure. I can really only speak to the US and Canada. If so, the first step would be to find a competent attorney in Singapore to advise. The US embassy, for example, maintains a list of English-speaking attorneys in Singapore who may have relevant experience: https://sg.usembassy.gov/list-of-attorneys/ https://sg.usembassy.gov/list-of-attorneys/
nl 11mo ago
If you are a rich crypto founder you can literally admit[0] to funneling money to Islamic State[1] and get yourself a pardon for it though[2]. [0] "Binance failed to file a SAR on transactions related to an individual designated by OFAC for support of a terrorist group. The individual was allowed to keep an account for several years in withdrawal-only status after designation and withdraw their balance" https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/enforcement_action/2023-11-21/FinCEN_Consent_Order_2023-04_FINAL508.pdf https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/enforcement_action/2023-... [1] "The violations include failure to implement programs to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorists — including Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) " https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1925 https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1925 [2] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly1qrl9l1qo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly1qrl9l1qo
makeitdouble 11mo ago
> The sanctions didn't come from nowhere. Legality set aside (I agree on your points on the repercussions), "the West" isn't that unified when it comes to middle east and other areas where the US meddled a lot. In particular, EU countries can have a way more nuanced view on it and be quite pissed at US' positions. Which can make the author's perception of it more complex. They'll find people who are genuinely sympathetic, but still absolutely refusing to cross the bridge.
PaulHoule 11mo ago
When I was interested in the semantic web I found that there was demand for it in the whole EMEA area: not just in the EU which funds it but also on a grassroots level in the Middle East and Africa where there are people using many different languages and better communications means more and better commerce. I was talking with people in Iraq about a project and found it wasn't necessarily sanctioned but I was supposed to go through channels and I couldn't find anyone at State to respond to my questions.
TZubiri 11mo ago
>The ones with strong tech industries would be Russia, China, and India As a side note, I wouldn't put it past a company of any of these countries to effectively resell the software to US companies, effectively bypassing the sanctions in a similar partnership fashion. On another note, how do you distinguish between a well meaning iranian asking you to do something illegal for money, and an iranian that is just trying to scam you. I'm not saying that this is the case, but the very intense regime would force anyone participating in this to forego the legal mechanisms that would make doing business somewhat safe to begin with. How do you bring a dispute to court if it arises? You would have to confess to a federal crime? Sorry man, I wish you luck, but nothing we can do here.
MangoToupe 11mo ago
> The sanctions didn't come from nowhere. I doubt most americans know where Iran is, let alone why we're sanctioning them.
- satisfice 11mo ago
  What difference does that make? A lot of Americans are literally children. Some are household pets. What do you expect? This country is run by a government. They know where Iran is.
  - ewuhic 11mo ago
    Re last sentence: not always.

echend 11mo ago

Thank you for this thoughtful response. You're raising legitimate concerns I may not fully understand. Let me clarify my understanding (and please correct me if I'm wrong): My assumption was that a structure like this would be legal: - Partner in US/UK registers their own company - Opens Stripe under their company name - Hires me as a remote contractor (like any distributed team) - I hold equity as a foreign shareholder (which I thought was legal for non-US persons) Is your point that even this structure violates sanctions because I'm Iranian? Or that the risk/complexity makes it impractical for anyone without massive legal resources? I genuinely don't want anyone to break the law. If what I'm proposing is illegal even in the structure above, I need to understand that. Re: Russia/China/India - that's solid advice I hadn't seriously considered. Russia and China have their own complexities, but India makes a lot of sense. Do you know if Indian tech companies face similar restrictions when working with Iranians, or is it more open? I appreciate you taking the time to explain this clearly rather than just dismissing it. If the Western partnership path is genuinely impossible (not just hard), I need to know that.

deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
ivraatiems 11mo ago
> My assumption was that a structure like this would be legal: - Partner in US/UK registers their own company - Opens Stripe under their company name - Hires me as a remote contractor (like any distributed team) - I hold equity as a foreign shareholder (which I thought was legal for non-US persons) That structure is explicitly illegal because you are an Iranian national. It does not matter whether you are a contractor: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/31/560.419 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/31/560.419 US business entities may not ever do business with Iran for any reason: https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2012/10/iran-sanctions-us-bans-foreign-subsidiaries-of-us https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2012/10/iran-... See also: https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/56536/can-a-us-company-employ-iranian-person-outside-us https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/56536/can-a-us-compa... > Is your point that even this structure violates sanctions because I'm Iranian? Yes. > Or that the risk/complexity makes it impractical for anyone without massive legal resources? Companies on the scale of Toyota or Huawei try to circumvent these sanctions. They are regularly found out and caught and prosecuted: > Do you know if Indian tech companies face similar restrictions when working with Iranians, or is it more open? Sorry, I'm not Indian and have no knowledge of Indian laws. I would strongly advise you seek legal counsel from a person familiar with them, preferably a barrister/solicitor (in Indian terms). > If the Western partnership path is genuinely impossible (not just hard), I need to know that. For all intents and purposes, for you, it is. I'm sorry, genuinely, that our countries are in this position with regards to each other. It isn't your fault, but it is how it is. Editing to add: the ONLY exception I can think of to this would be if you flee Iran, plead for and are granted asylum in the United States or a third country with better relationships to it. This is extraordinarily hard, and possibly a violation of Iranian law for me to even suggest to you.
- bawolff 11mo ago
  > Editing to add: the ONLY exception I can think of to this would be if you flee Iran, plead for and are granted asylum in the United States or a third country with better relationships to it. This is extraordinarily hard, and possibly a violation of Iranian law for me to even suggest to you. Couldnt they just immigrate normally? I dont know how this all works, but there is a reasonably large size group of Iranian expats in my country (canada), many of them with jobs in the tech sector. I think they are just normal immigrants and not asylum seekers. I imagine its hard (especially with the current gov taking an anti-immigration tone), but probably a lot easier than getting asylum in usa.

LarsDu88 11mo ago

Would Singapore work? English is quite widely spoken there and the tech scene is quite good.

ivraatiems 11mo ago
I'm not sure. I can really only speak to the US and Canada. If so, the first step would be to find a competent attorney in Singapore to advise. The US embassy, for example, maintains a list of English-speaking attorneys in Singapore who may have relevant experience: https://sg.usembassy.gov/list-of-attorneys/ https://sg.usembassy.gov/list-of-attorneys/

nl 11mo ago

If you are a rich crypto founder you can literally admit[0] to funneling money to Islamic State[1] and get yourself a pardon for it though[2]. [0] "Binance failed to file a SAR on transactions related to an individual designated by OFAC for support of a terrorist group. The individual was allowed to keep an account for several years in withdrawal-only status after designation and withdraw their balance" https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/enforcement_action/2023-11-21/FinCEN_Consent_Order_2023-04_FINAL508.pdf https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/enforcement_action/2023-... [1] "The violations include failure to implement programs to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorists — including Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) " https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1925 https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1925 [2] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly1qrl9l1qo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly1qrl9l1qo

makeitdouble 11mo ago

> The sanctions didn't come from nowhere. Legality set aside (I agree on your points on the repercussions), "the West" isn't that unified when it comes to middle east and other areas where the US meddled a lot. In particular, EU countries can have a way more nuanced view on it and be quite pissed at US' positions. Which can make the author's perception of it more complex. They'll find people who are genuinely sympathetic, but still absolutely refusing to cross the bridge.

PaulHoule 11mo ago

When I was interested in the semantic web I found that there was demand for it in the whole EMEA area: not just in the EU which funds it but also on a grassroots level in the Middle East and Africa where there are people using many different languages and better communications means more and better commerce. I was talking with people in Iraq about a project and found it wasn't necessarily sanctioned but I was supposed to go through channels and I couldn't find anyone at State to respond to my questions.

TZubiri 11mo ago

>The ones with strong tech industries would be Russia, China, and India As a side note, I wouldn't put it past a company of any of these countries to effectively resell the software to US companies, effectively bypassing the sanctions in a similar partnership fashion. On another note, how do you distinguish between a well meaning iranian asking you to do something illegal for money, and an iranian that is just trying to scam you. I'm not saying that this is the case, but the very intense regime would force anyone participating in this to forego the legal mechanisms that would make doing business somewhat safe to begin with. How do you bring a dispute to court if it arises? You would have to confess to a federal crime? Sorry man, I wish you luck, but nothing we can do here.

MangoToupe 11mo ago

> The sanctions didn't come from nowhere. I doubt most americans know where Iran is, let alone why we're sanctioning them.

satisfice 11mo ago
What difference does that make? A lot of Americans are literally children. Some are household pets. What do you expect? This country is run by a government. They know where Iran is.
- ewuhic 11mo ago
  Re last sentence: not always.