US warns foreign banks over dealing with Iranian entities still under sanctions
“What banks need to be careful about now is … not doing business with sanctioned parties in Iran, and there are some still sanctioned for terrorism,” explained Chris Backemeyer, the principal coordinator for sanctions policy at the US State Department to a press conference in Dubai.
While sanctions were officially lifted on Iran last January as part of the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 powers last July the US still forbids its banks from doing business with Iran.
“They [foreign banks] need to be careful, and they need to be careful not to route things through the United States because it’s still prohibited for transactions [to go] through the United States,” Backemeyer added.
The purpose of his Dubai visit was to outline the parameters businesses dealing with Iran need to be aware of, in doing so he made clear that, “Americans cannot engage in commercial activities with Iran. American companies aren’t buying Iranian oil and haven’t been for a couple of decades. That part hasn’t changed.”
This US government policy has led to many European banks hesitating from engaging Tehran in business since they fear being blacklisted by the US. A state of affairs Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out at during his Newroz address on Sunday going so far as to claim that the Americans have only “removed the sanctions on paper.”
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via Defense News