Lawmakers Urge Tech Companies to Use Iran General License
U.S. technology companies should make use of a Treasury Department license that authorizes certain communication-related transactions with Iran, a bipartisan group of lawmakers said last week. General License D2, issued in September (see 2209230037), can help Iranians obtain tools and access communication services to help them “circumvent government blockages,” the lawmakers said in an Oct. 27 letter to Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Digital Ocean. The companies should be more “proactive in acting pursuant to the broad authorization provided in GLD-2,” said the letter, signed by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and others.
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The tech companies should “work expeditiously” to make sure communications technologies and services are available in Iran, the lawmakers said, including cloud and hosting services, messaging platforms, developer tools and access to app stores. The companies should also help Treasury identify any remaining “obstacles” they may face in providing services in Iran, the letter said. Spokespeople for Microsoft and Amazon declined to comment, and the other companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.