Germany
tightens cash transfer rules as Iran seeks funds
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s central bank is
changing its terms and conditions to provide for deeper scrutiny of cash
transfers, a move that comes as Iran seeks to repatriate cash held in a
Hamburg-based bank and the U.S. presses allies to get tough on Tehran.
Iran wants to bring home 300 million euros
($347 million) it has in the European-Iranian Trade Bank ahead of new U.S.
sanctions. German authorities have been examining the request for weeks, and
the U.S. has made clear its concerns about potential terrorist financing and
money-laundering.
Changes to its business conditions taking
effect Aug. 25, and released in late July, allow the Bundesbank to block cash
transfers in the absence of assurances from those involved in a transaction
that it doesn’t violate financial sanctions or rules to prevent
money-laundering and the funding of terrorism. It also mentions possible risks
to “important relationships with third countries’ central banks and financial
institutions.”
The changes don’t specifically mention
Iran, but are widely viewed as a reaction to the transfer request.
“We are grateful to our German partners at
the chancellery and throughout the government for recognizing the need to act,”
U.S. ambassador Richard Grenell told The Associated Press on Saturday. “Iran’s
malign activities throughout Europe are a growing concern for us.”
The German finance ministry said this
week, after Germany’s Bild daily reported on the new Bundesbank rules, that the
Iranian request is still under consideration — a process that involves
Germany’s financial market regulator and financial intelligence unit.
The matter is awkward for Germany because
the government is also committed to keeping alive the 2015 deal with Iran which
provides incentives in exchange for Tehran not pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran
has indicated it will stay aboard as long as the remaining signatories stick to
the deal and it continues to enjoy economic incentives.
President Donald Trump’s administration
began dismantling the sanctions relief that was granted to Iran under the deal
in June, a month after Trump announced the United States’ unilateral withdrawal
from the accord.
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