Meeting of Iran's Central Bank, US Treasury, and International Banks Postponed

A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office has stated that the meeting of officials from Iran's Central Bank, the US Treasury, and international banks, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday in London, has been postponed. According to Reuters, this meeting was intended to discuss the resumption of relations with Iran following the lifting of nuclear sanctions against Tehran. Despite the lifting of international nuclear sanctions against Iran, European banks remain hesitant about resuming relations with Iran and are seeking guarantees in this regard. This comes as the US had previously sanctioned several European banks for violating sanctions against Iran prior to the nuclear agreement. Earlier, the British Foreign Secretary, speaking in Parliament, had stated in response to a question about his negotiations with US officials to encourage British companies and institutions to cooperate with Iran that the meeting was set to take place on Tuesday afternoon in London. Philip Hammond said, 'This afternoon, a meeting between Iran's Central Bank, the US Treasury, and international banks will be held in London to make efforts for progress in this area.' A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office later stated that this meeting has been postponed to another time. However, the reason for the postponement has not been disclosed. According to Reuters, this meeting was supposed to take place following John Kerry's meeting with European banking officials in May, where he encouraged them to trade with Iran. At that time, European banks expressed their concerns regarding cooperation with Iran and stated they were not inclined to resume relations. Nine executives from prominent European banks attended the May meeting. Following the implementation of the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, known as the JCPOA, nuclear sanctions against Tehran were lifted. However, due to the existence of other US sanctions against Iran, banks and major financial and commercial institutions show little interest in trading with Iran, which Iranian officials have criticized.