Four MPs: Announce the Names of Foreign Banks Collaborating with Iran

On Wednesday, April 25, four members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly sent an open letter to the Governor of the Central Bank, Valiollah Seif, requesting clarification regarding the lifting of banking sanctions. Ahmad Tavakoli, Elias Naderan, Mohammad Dehghan, and Mohammad Hossein Hosseinzadeh Bahraini asked Seif to disclose "the exact names of foreign banks that have collaborated with Iranian banks after the JCPOA and accept letters of credit and foreign remittances from Iranian banks." The representatives also requested that the names of Western banks willing to accept remittances from Iranian banks be announced to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. In another section of the letter, the authors demanded the names of Iranian banks that have successfully opened letters of credit or sent remittances to foreign banks after the JCPOA was signed. They emphasized that the names of foreign banks and the amount of transactions should be disclosed. In the introduction of the letter, the four MPs stressed that "after the signing of the JCPOA agreement three months ago, there have been many criticisms from private and public economic activists regarding the inability to open letters of credit and send remittances from Iranian banks to foreign banks that had cut their relations with Iranian banks before the signing of the JCPOA." According to these individuals, the mentioned economic activists stated that, apart from a few banks that had previously collaborated with Iran, no new foreign banks have been added to the list of foreign banks that accept letters of credit or remittances from Iranian banks or transfer these remittances with Iranian origins to other parts of the world. The letter also mentions banks that had previously collaborated with Iran's banking network and continue to do so. Following the signing of the JCPOA three months ago, there have been many criticisms from private and public economic activists regarding the inability to open letters of credit and send remittances from Iranian banks to foreign banks that had previously severed their ties with Iranian banks. Halk Bank of Turkey, BCP of Switzerland, Mizuho of Japan, and China’s Kunlun Bank are mentioned in the MPs' letter as banks collaborating with Iran's banking network. Since the implementation of the JCPOA, one of the criticisms from hardliners against President Hassan Rouhani's government has been the non-implementation of the JCPOA in the banking sector and the failure to lift banking restrictions on Iran, which was among Rouhani's key promises. Even contradictory news about the resumption of international SWIFT services to Iranian banks was repeated so much that eventually, Central Bank officials decided to hold a press conference on April 5 to showcase the utilization of the SWIFT system. Hossein Yaqoubi, the Central Bank's Director General for International Affairs, announced during the program that the number of Iran's correspondent relationships with foreign banks increased from 10 before the JCPOA to 300. In recent days and weeks, during the visits of trade and political delegations from Kazakhstan and Italy to Tehran, banking agreements and the enhancement of banking relations were among the signed memorandums. According to the Central Bank's public relations, Giuseppe Scognamiglio, the Executive Vice President of UniCredit Bank, emphasized during his visit to Tehran that discussions with Iranian commercial banks are ongoing and will be completed by the end of April. According to the Central Bank's report, Mario Di Luca, the International Director of Monte dei Paschi di Siena Bank, also spoke about this Italian bank's cooperation with Iranian banks immediately after the JCPOA was signed, adding, "Immediately after the JCPOA, several Iranian banks opened accounts at our bank, and we are currently providing guarantee and letter of credit services for our clients." The sanctions against Iranian banks and the Central Bank of Iran, including the cessation of SWIFT international services, are considered among the most effective sanctions imposed against Iran.