> 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?
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.
UPDATE: I'm pulling back from seeking Western partnerships.
Multiple commenters have explained that even the "contractor + equity" structure violates sanctions and is illegal. I genuinely didn't understand this - I thought it was a gray area. It's not.
I'm not asking anyone to break the law or take legal risk. That was naive on my part.
Based on helpful suggestions in this thread, I'm now focusing on:
- India (no sanctions, large tech industry)
- UAE/Dubai (open to Iranian nationals)
- Turkey (regional tech hub)
- Singapore (need to research legality)
If you're from one of these countries and interested in partnership, feel free to reach out: EchenDeligani@gmail.com
To everyone who took the time to explain sanctions compliance: thank you. This thread educated me on things I clearly didn't understand.
The technology still works. The market still exists. I just need to find it in the right geography.
> 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.
Canada is a different matter and certainly, if the OP immigrated to Canada and was living there as an Iranian national with legal Canadian residency, the situation would be different.
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
US business entities may not ever do business with Iran for any reason: https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2012/10/iran-...
See also: 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.