The Central Bank of Iran's Gold Reserves Have Decreased

On Wednesday, April 8, the newspaper Ta'adol reported based on the balance sheet statistics of the Central Bank of Iran that the amount of gold reserves in this bank has decreased by 40% over two years since the onset of banking sanctions, dropping from 95 tons to about 60 tons. According to this report, at the beginning of the banking sanctions against Iran, which was at the end of 2010, the Central Bank's gold reserves were 95 tons, but after two years of sanctions in 2012, these reserves had decreased by 40% to about 60 tons. The newspaper stated that the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sold 35 tons of the Central Bank's gold reserves due to a shortage of resources, which was 'partly due to the sanctions,' to secure its foreign and domestic budget. Central banks hold gold reserves to maintain asset value and guarantee the payment of financial obligations such as bank deposits or as backing for national currency. Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank of Iran, announced on September 14, 2015, that after the Vienna nuclear agreement, about 13 tons of gold from Iran was returned from South Africa, and prior to that, about 8 tons of gold was brought back under the Geneva agreement. Previously, reports had emerged about the exit of gold from Iran during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency and the seizure of some of these gold shipments in other countries. For instance, Turkish media reported in 2012 that a cargo plane with one and a half tons of gold was seized at Istanbul Airport, which was reportedly en route from Ghana to Iran. Meanwhile, Babak Zanjani, on December 2, 2015, during his fourteenth court session, explained his role in transferring this gold shipment, stating that those involved in the transfer, including 'two agents' and a person named 'A,' had replaced the gold with lead. In recent years, reports have also emerged about Iran's use of gold to circumvent banking sanctions. For example, Reuters reported in 2013 that Iran was purchasing gold in Turkey to bypass Western sanctions and transferring it to Dubai to convert it into international currencies for imports. Additionally, reports indicated a several-fold increase in Turkey's gold exports to Iran during the banking sanctions. The Turkish Statistical Institute reported that Turkey's gold exports to Iran increased from $13 million in March 2011 to $480 million in March 2012.