Zarif: The U.S. Should Provide More Guarantees to European Banks for Trade with Iran

Iran's Foreign Minister described banking issues as the "only obstacle" to economic cooperation between Iran and Europe, urging the U.S. to eliminate "psychological barriers" in this regard and to provide European banks with "guarantees" that they will not be penalized for cooperating with Iran. According to the IRIB news agency, Mohammad Javad Zarif stated on Tuesday, June 1, during a joint press conference with Finnish Foreign Minister Teemu Sweeney, that some European banks are still "worried" about potential repercussions from the U.S. due to their relations with Iran. Zarif pointed to the "encouragement" for cooperation with Iran in the statement from the U.S. and major European foreign ministers, adding that "there are still psychological barriers in this path, and the U.S. must remove these psychological obstacles." Furthermore, according to IRNA, Zarif called on the U.S. to take "further steps" in this area and assure European banks that they will not face repercussions for their relations with Iran. On Monday, he also mentioned in Poland that remnants of sanctions mentality still exist in European monetary systems, stemming from the heavy penalties these companies faced during the sanctions period. On June 1, he welcomed the statement from the U.S. and major European foreign ministers encouraging banks and traders to cooperate with Iran, stating that the Islamic Republic has not yet reached "what it should" following the Vienna nuclear agreement, and that alongside statements, "practical actions" must also be taken. A day prior, Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's Central Bank, expressed dissatisfaction with the outcomes of the Vienna nuclear agreement for the Islamic Republic, stating that "we cannot yet claim that our international banking relations have normalized." The U.S. Secretary of State and his counterparts from the UK, Germany, France, and the EU's foreign policy chief, on May 20, issued a statement urging banks and traders not to overlook legal investment opportunities in Iran. These countries also expressed readiness to dispel doubts in this regard. Some Iranian officials, including Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister, have stated that aside from the concerns of European banks regarding sanctions, "weak financial discipline" among Iranian banks has also been "not insignificant" in the reluctance of European banks to cooperate with them, which the Central Bank is working to address. Meanwhile, Hamid Tehranfar, former deputy supervisor of the Central Bank, reported on March 6, 2016, that the Central Bank requested the International Monetary Fund to express its opinion on Iran's banking regulations regarding anti-money laundering to alleviate other countries' concerns, and the Fund will provide its opinion in 2018. In this interview, Zarif also responded to a journalist's question regarding the pressure on Kurdish, Turkish, and Arab minorities in Iran, stating: "To see the situation in Iran, go to Urmia and Mahabad and see how the President of Iran was with the Kurdish and Azerbaijani people today and how they welcomed him. If you observe these realities, you will reconsider your statement." Some provinces in Iran, such as Kurdistan, Sistan and Baluchestan, West Azerbaijan, Golestan, and Khuzestan, witnessed severe clashes between armed groups and the Islamic Republic's security forces in the early years following the Islamic Revolution. Armed conflicts in some of these provinces, including Sistan and Baluchestan and Kurdistan, continue to this day. Over the past years, several human rights activists and minority rights activists in these provinces have been arrested and sentenced to prison. Hassan Rouhani, during his presidential election campaign, emphasized the observance of the rights of ethnicities, religions, and sects in Iran in a ten-point statement, making promises in this regard. Officially teaching the mother tongue of ethnic groups in schools and universities and appointing "qualified local" personnel in managerial positions were among Rouhani's promises in this statement. Teaching Kurdish language and literature at the University of Kurdistan, dedicating part of the Persian literature textbook for the first to third grades of secondary education to Kurdish content in Kurdistan Province, and appointing a Sunni ambassador and a deputy minister from the Sunni community were among the actions of Hassan Rouhani's government.