Iran Focus

London, 26 Oct – On November 5th U.S. sanctions are set to be re-imposed on Iran. These sanctions will exert more pressure on an already struggling economy. It is likely that Iran will attempt to circumvent these sanctions through cyber-enabled money laundering — and banks will be a prime target.

To cyber-enable money laundering, hackers alter critical information or disable anti-money laundering controls using a bank’s own computer system, thereby allowing them to execute a prohibited financial transaction. The illicit purpose or sanctioned participant is disguised, so the transaction is allowed.

Iran Focus

London, 25 Oct – German bank Varengold is still conducting business with Iran Air, an airline that will come under US sanctions from November 4 for its role in helping Iran to aid Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The business links were confirmed by a highly reliable source and the Iran Air website.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies reports that members of Fatemiyoun, an Afghan militia under control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps – a US-sanctioned terrorism group – are being flown on Iran Air to Syria, but the Iran Air website hides this by not listing Damascus on its official flight logs.

Iran Focus

London, 25 Oct – The Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih has said on Tuesday that his country, the leading member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is ready to increase its crude oil production and spare capacity to help maintain balance in the global market and prevent a sharp price rise.

At an investment conference in Riyadh, Falih said that OPEC and non-OPEC producers are expected to sign an “open-ended” agreement in December to continue cooperation in the energy markets.

Iran Focus

London, 24 Oct – On Tuesday, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty published an article discussing the Iranian reaction to the apparent killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by agents of the Saudi Arabian government. The article began by stating that “Tehran spent weeks watching quietly as the international crisis unfolded over the killing.” It noted that Sadegh Larijani, the head of the Iranian judiciary, finally condemned the incident on Monday, but that this effectively broke the government’s weeks-long silence, standing as an exception to its strategy of simply allowing other international voices to take the lead in criticizing Iran’s leading regional adversary.

Iran Focus

London, 23 Oct – The official channel for money transfers between China and Iran, Bank of Kunlun, will stop handling payments from the Islamic Republic as U.S. sanctions loom, according to what sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The sources, who include external loan agents and business officials who trade with Iran, claim that Kunlun verbally informed clients that it will stop accepting yuan-denominated Iranian payments to China beginning November 1st.

The financial arm of Chinese state energy group CNPC controls the bank, and had already suspended euro-denominated payments from Iran in late August, said the sources, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.