Ahmadinejad orders bank assets out of Europe over more sanctions fears - website
Published: Monday, June 09, 2008
14:30GMT—10:30AM/EST
EUROPE – IRAN – BANKS
Washington, 9 June (IranVNC)—President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered the transfer of billions of dollars of Iranian assets from Europe to Iran’s Central Bank through companies in Persian Gulf countries, Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reports.
Quoting unnamed Western diplomats, the Telegraph reports that officials at the state-owned Bank Melli – one of Iran’s largest banks – have been told to “smuggle assets held in Europe back to Iran,” amid fears that the European Union will ban the bank from operating in EU member countries.
The U.S. has accused Bank Melli, along with Bank Saderat, of supporting the country’s nuclear activities and financing “terrorist” groups abroad.
The EU has not sanctioned the banks, but it was reported last month that the 27-nation bloc was preparing to freeze assets and funds of Bank Melli, if Tehran does not accept a package of political and economic incentives offered by the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.
The EU’s foreign policy head, Javier Solana, will visit Tehran on June 14 to present the offer of incentives to Tehran on behalf of the 5+1 group, which suspects Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons.
The Islamic Republic says its atomic program is aimed solely at developing energy.
Bank Melli in Hamburg, Germany, came under intense scrutiny last month, when it was ordered to freeze its activities so that German financial investigators could examine the bank’s transactions.
And the UK bank, Barclays, announced last week it had begun closing the accounts of British customers with links to Iranian-owned businesses, and said that it would not engage in transactions with business entities linked to the Melli or Saderat banks.
But other European companies such as Switzerland’s Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft Laufenburg, which recently signed a multi-billion dollar energy contract with Tehran, are keen to develop energy ties with Tehran, despite U.S. pressure.
The U.S. wants Europe to extend sanctions against the Islamic Republic and during his trip to Europe this week, President George W. Bush is expected to push EU member states to enforce sanctions on the two banks.
“I will continue to work on this trip to talk about the dangers of a nuclear Iran . . . we’ve got to work to stop them from learning to enrich [uranium],” Bush said in an interview with Italy’s RAI television.
Ahead of Bush’s trip, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week called on Europe to increase the pressure by “exploiting Iran’s vulnerabilities” in order to keep Iran from continuing its nuclear activities.
Sources: Telegraph, White House website, ISNA
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