Azerbaijan, Baku, April 19 /Trend S. Isayev/
In principle, if Swiss banks are willing to do the business they could handle transactions of the Iranian Central Bank (ICB), Senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, James M. Dorsey told Trend.
The expert was commenting on Iranian Central Bank's ability to continue doing business in Switzerland.
According to Rudolf Christen, a spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, ICB, which is under siege from both the U.S and EU which froze its assets in January, can keep doing business in Switzerland because of its systemic importance to the Persian Gulf nation's economy.
Christen noted that Switzerland will also leave the door open to Iranian oil imports, Bloomberg reported.
James Dorsey believes Switzerland has put itself in a good light in the eyes of Iran, however that would not help the Swiss to circumvent ever more biting sanctions.
"The Swiss move is however likely to be more form than substance as Swiss banks are unlikely to want to run the risk of running afoul of U.S. regulators particularly when it comes to US dollar transactions," Dorsey said.
Sanctions aimed at Iran's central bank have forced Tehran's government to barter oil for food and consumer products. The value of Iran's rial has fallen and deprived the country of hard currencies that help fund imports needed for its nuclear and missile programs.
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