Mega Bank of Taiwan Stops Cooperation with Iran Due to US Sanctions

The International Commercial Bank 'Mega' in Taiwan announced the cessation of its cooperation with Iran coinciding with the beginning of the second round of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic starting in November. An official from the bank, who preferred to remain anonymous, disclosed this information in an interview with Reuters. This source requested anonymity because they were not officially authorized to speak with the media. Three informed sources had told Reuters in August that Mega Bank of Taiwan planned to halt banking transactions between Taiwan and Iran starting in November. According to this decision, the bank will not implement the financial settlement mechanism between Taiwan and Iran in two weeks. Following the announcement of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and the re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran, Washington has given financial institutions until November to cease their activities with Iran to avoid penalties from the US. The second round of sanctions is expected to target Iran's oil industry, and the United States is striving to reduce Iran's oil sales to zero. European countries, which continue to show interest in preserving the JCPOA despite the US's unilateral withdrawal, are attempting to establish a separate financial system to facilitate continued financial transactions with Iran. A French senator stated that at least one Iranian bank must remain connected to the SWIFT system to enable financial transactions between Iran and Europe. SWIFT is an international monetary system that facilitates financial communications between banks, with over 11,000 banks in more than 200 countries and regions connected through it. SWIFT stands for 'Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication,' headquartered in Belgium, but it has managers from American banks and federal agencies on its board. SWIFT monitors all international banking transactions. Philippe Bonnecarrere added that Europe's efforts to allow Iran to continue its commitment to the JCPOA are 'difficult but possible.' He mentioned that one way to achieve this is to maintain at least one Iranian bank's connection to SWIFT to allow financial transactions for goods not subject to sanctions. This senator, who is the head of the Iran-France Friendship Group in the French Parliament, made these remarks at a press conference attended by his Iranian counterpart. He traveled to Iran with six other members of the French Parliament, and according to one French lawmaker, this visit signifies France's 'determination' to preserve the international JCPOA agreement. This news comes as several American officials recently reported internal conflicts within Donald Trump's administration regarding Iran's continued access to the SWIFT banking system. Several senior officials from the US Treasury, including those hopeful about maintaining the nuclear agreement, the JCPOA, have discussed their efforts to continue Iran's access to SWIFT with the news site 'Washington Free Beacon.' These efforts occur while President Trump and National Security Advisor John Bolton, along with other security advisors, have pressured to cut Iran's access to SWIFT and warned Europe about continuing economic relations with Iran. Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary, has also reported that the US is consulting with SWIFT to cut Iran's access to this system. In the previous round of sanctions, the US forced SWIFT to sever its connections with Iran. Although the US does not hold a majority on SWIFT's board, it can threaten to sanction this international entity to cut its relations with Iran.