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In complex sanctions regulations, a couple of words can make all the difference. That’s why, when the U.S. government made a few alterations and inserted additional explanatory language into a personal communications authorization last week, it took important steps to advance freedom of expression in Iran.

On February 7, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) a revised General License D for Iran, clarifying a number of outstanding questions about the original license authorizing the export of hardware, software, and services that enable personal communications. The new replaces the May 2013 General License D, which allows companies to offer laptops, cell phones, anti-virus software, secure chat, and other tools to Iran despite comprehensive U.S. sanctions. OFAC also published answers to (FAQs) about General License D-1, aimed at further clarifying the types of personal communications products that companies can and cannot legally export to Iran.

The changes are necessary for General License D to maximize its intended effect on free expression and the free flow of information in Iran. It’s been nearly seven months since the , and there have only been a few reports of U.S. companies actually making their products available to Iranians as a result. Last summer, both Google and Apple inside the country—a , although Google limited it to free apps because existing financial sanctions still make payment processing a challenge. And many other companies appear to be even more hesitant to open up the Iranian market, often due to or concerns that the risk of violating sanctions outweighs the potential reward.

By revising the license, the U.S. government has made it clear once again that sanctions should not by preventing communications tools from reaching the Iranian people. But it will also take action from American companies to ensure that this policy change is not merely symbolic. The Treasury and State Departments have previously struggled to entice U.S. companies to take advantage of existing authorizations, despite four attempts to revise and expand them since 2009.

One impacts the ability of ‘non-U.S. persons’ to export products to Iran that have licensed parts or components produced in the United States. The original license created (probably unintentionally) a where, for example, foreign-made phones and tablets running Google’s Android operating system could be exported to Iran by a U.S.-headquartered company from anywhere in the world or by a non-U.S. company from the United States, but not by a non-U.S. company from outside of the United States. (In plain English, it effectively precluded a company like South Korea-based Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, from selling phones with Google’s Android OS in Iran, while authorizing an identical export by a foreign-owned company from the United States or by an American company.) The new license , and the FAQs make it doubly explicit that such .

Alterations to specific language in the license also . For example, the new definition for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates in the license annex is substantially improved. The FAQs provide additional details about in authorized advertising and software, selling , providing , and exporting and to Iran.

Progress in Iran also to update other comprehensive U.S. sanctions to promote the free flow of information. As we argue in a , streamlining and harmonizing the treatment of communications technology under the Sudanese, Cuban, and Syrian sanctions regimes will not only benefit citizens in each of those countries—it will also make it much easier for companies to comply with existing restrictions across the board, increasing the likelihood that they will make their products available. The that Coursera plans to block access to its in Iran, Sudan, and Cuba (but , thanks to Syrian ) demonstrate yet again that American sanctions have on , and the confusing inconsistencies created by the patchwork of existing authorizations.

Although there is significant work left to do with respect to both Iran and other countries subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions, last week’s news shows that the government is serious about making progress. We look forward to seeing continued implementation of General License D-1 as well as steps toward issuing new licenses for Sudan, Syria, and Cuba.