Bahmani Denies Meeting with Reza Zarrab and Circumventing Sanctions Through Him

Mahmoud Bahmani, former head of the Central Bank, denied having met with Reza Zarrab, the Iranian-Turkish businessman detained in the U.S. News agency 'Naftema' published this statement on Tuesday (December 20). In response to Zarrab's claims of having met with him, Bahmani stated: 'Zarrab has had no dealings with me, and these statements are similar to those claiming that Zanjani had meetings with me.' Bahmani characterized the role of the Central Bank governor as 'holding meetings,' but noted that 'it should be seen whether the Central Bank governor has committed any violations; in any case, I have had no meetings or dealings with Zarrab.' The former Central Bank head also referred to what he called 'managing sanctions' during his tenure, stating, 'We were in a complete sanctions crisis, and we managed the sanctions, which we take pride in.' According to Bahmani, 'If we had not managed the sanctions, it is unclear what our situation would have been.' He continued, 'In fact, the best thing done in the previous period was managing the sanctions, as oil, the Central Bank, and the country's banks were sanctioned, and we could not import goods.' However, he rejected the notion that managing or circumventing sanctions against Iran's nuclear program was done through Reza Zarrab, asserting, 'We have had no dealings with Zarrab, and the management of sanctions was not done through him.' The Associated Press had previously reported, citing Zarrab's indictment, that he met with several government 'banking and financial' officials in 2012, including 'the then-director general of the Central Bank of Iran and the financial director of the National Iranian Oil Company.' The year 2012 coincided with the final term of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, and the head of the Central Bank at that time was Mahmoud Bahmani, who served from 2009 to 2013, succeeding Tahmasb Mazaheri. After Zarrab accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a New York court of personally authorizing the circumvention of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Istanbul prosecutor's office seized his assets on Friday, December 10. Meanwhile, Erdogan emphasized that Turkey has not circumvented U.S. sanctions against Iran. Reza Zarrab, 34, who was arrested in Miami in March 2016, accepted seven charges last month, including conspiracy, violating U.S. sanctions, bank fraud, money laundering, and bribing a prison guard for alcohol and using a mobile phone in prison. He stated earlier this week that he is cooperating with U.S. authorities regarding the charges. The U.S. prosecutor's office has accused him, a native of Iran, of helping the Iranian government and institutions move hundreds of millions of dollars in assets to circumvent sanctions between 2010 and 2015. In his court testimony, he mentioned 'Ziraat Bank' and 'VakıfBank' of Turkey for the first time, claiming they played a role in circumventing Iran's sanctions. Meanwhile, Hakan Atilla, the director of Halkbank, has denied the charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran's nuclear program, with Zarrab stating that he had collaborated with him. U.S. prosecutors claim Zarrab and Atilla transferred Iran's oil and gas revenues through money laundering, which constitutes a violation of U.S. sanctions.