AFP: Iran’s major banks said Tuesday they have halted the transfer of dollars abroad as a result of US financial sanctions and fears the money may be seized by the US authorities. TEHRAN, Jan 23, 2007 (AFP) – Iran’s major banks said Tuesday they have halted the transfer of dollars abroad as a result of US financial sanctions and fears the money may be seized by the US authorities.
“On Monday, we received a directive asking us not to make any dollar transfers abroad,” an official in the Export Development Bank of Iran told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“Our customers can have accounts opened up in dollars and receive transfers in dollars. But we do not make any more transfers abroad in dollars,” he added.
The halt on transfers was confirmed by an official in one of the branches of Mellat Bank, one of the largest in the country.
Iran announced in December it would replace the dollar with the euro in foreign transactions and state-held foreign assets, in an apparent response to mounting US pressure on its banks.
The United States has blacklisted at least two Iranian banks amid a mounting standoff between the West and Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme that led to the imposition of UN sanctions last month.
