Last fall, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued new interpretations of regulations that could affect whether translators can translate and publishers can publish work originating in embargoed countries, e.g. Iran, Cuba, and Sudan. PEN believes these regulations violate the spirit of the law they are meant to enforce, the First Amendment, and international law. Members of PEN’s translation committee have been directly affected by these new regulations, as are ongoing translation projects PEN is involved in that are meant to stimulate interest in contemporary Iranian literature.

Because these regulations so directly affect PEN’s work and so clearly violate the basic principles of PEN, we have been the leading voice in protesting these regulations. PEN members affected by the regulation have been quoted widely in the press. PEN’s official letter of protest has become a model for similar letters from other First Amendment, literary, and academic organizations.

This month, we are urging all PEN members and supporters to write to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and join us in protesting regulations that restrict the publication of literature and information from countries currently under U.S. trade embargo.