Iran will draw out assets from countries that impose restrictions on its assets abroad in the face of tightening international sanctions over its nuclear activities, the Central Bank of Iran deputy said here on Saturday.
Any country that creates limitations for Iran's assets, we will stop trading with them," Hamid Borhani told the Mehr news agency. "We have to protect our assets."
"The countries wealth should be managed in a way to be both safe and accessible without any risk," Borhani clarified.
He went on to say that if a country enforces financial restrictions on Iranian funds we will take our resources out of that place, and this is a completely natural and logical phenomenon.
The United States, the United Nations and the European Union have imposed new restrictions on Iran over its nuclear enrichment activities.
The latest measures are mainly aimed at vital sectors of Iran's economy such as banking and energy, which analysts say will raise the cost of trade by making it more difficult to transfer funds or insure cargoes.
Iran says any sanctions imposed on its banking sector will create instability in the world's financial system although the country will find ways to protect its assets.
Iran said on Friday it will shift to other currencies for payment of its oil exports. The dollar is the standard currency for oil trade, but transactions can in theory be carried out in whatever currency the parties involved decides.