The German-based Europaisch-Iranische Handelsbank (EIH Bank) is a joint Iranian and European bank it has not committed any illegalities, the Central Bank of Iran's governor Mahmoud Bahmani said, Tehran Times reported with reference to Fars news agency.
"The bank is not German and the bank operates in Germany and has met all its commitments," Bahmani told.
Meanwhile, some news outlets have recently reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has put a stop to plans that have irked Washington and Israel for India to channel oil payments to Iran through the German central bank, a press report said Tuesday.
According to the Handelsblatt business daily, India, under U.S. pressure to break direct commercial links with the Islamic republic, intended to place money for its Iranian oil imports in an account with the Bundesbank.
The Bundesbank would then transfer the money - around nine billion euros ($12.8 billion) annually - to the European-Iranian Trade Bank AG (EIH), based in the northern German city of Hamburg, the paper had said.
The German government had said it was powerless to stop the deal because EIH, also known as EIHB, was not subject to sanctions because the bank was not involved in financing Iran's nuclear activities.