Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 19
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's central bank, has urged the US to remove ambiguities over banking ties with Iran. "Washington should feel accountable for removing ambiguities over the cooperation of the European banks with Iran," IRNA news agency quoted Seif as saying.
"Nevertheless, the Americans have taken some measures in this regards, that are not sufficient in our point of view," he added. Saying that sanctions on Iran were removed and the country's oil exports increased following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in January, he said there are still obstacles against banking transactions between Iran and European banks, in particular. He described the concerns of European banks over running afoul of the US regulations as a main reason behind the European financial institutions' approach towards Iran. Stating that the Italian and Austrian banks have better ties with Iranian banks, he further predicted that the ties with other European banks will gradually improve. Earlier in an interview with Bloomberg TV and also during a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US he accused Washington and Europeans of failing to honor the JCPOA. "In general, we are not able to use our frozen funds abroad," Seif said Apr. 15.
Valiollah Seif, arrived in Washington earlier this week to attend the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group held April 15-17.