Valiollah Seif made the remark in a meeting with German Ambassador to Tehran, Michael Klor-Berchtold, on Tuesday, while discussing the current banking obstacles facing the expansion of economic relations between the two sides.
The ICB governor complained about US’ continued attempts at undermining Iran’s economic growth by making major foreign banks cautious about doing business with Iran, adding “in such a situation, we need to analyze risks and conditions as transparently as possible in order to help the improvement of banking ties.”
Seif added that the Iranian banks have been classified based on standards, and the Central Bank of Iran can give relative reassurance to German banks by introducing them and controlling the risk factors.
Seif noted the upcoming Frankfurt Finance Summit as a good opportunity for German banks to gain better knowledge of Iran, adding “due to the good level of relations between Iran and Germany, regulating banking ties and creating a mechanism for settling transactions will be possible.”
The ICB governor called on Germany and EU to support Iran during the next FATF session so that the decisions would be made without a political agenda.
The German envoy, for his part, criticized Donald Trump’s policy on creating an atmosphere of uncertainty for doing business with Iran, saying in such a situation, other countries wishing to maintain cooperation with Iran need to make every effort to preserve the nuclear deal and implement it in a way that ordinary people could feel the impact of its implementation on their lives.
He stressed that Germany could have an effective impact on the growth of Iran’s economy, voicing hope that the US would never go ahead with re-imposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
At the end of the meeting, Seif extended an invitation to his German counterpart for a visit to Iran and the ICB.
MS/4202223