Iran to Work with Italy’s Bankrupt Banks Using Euros


Iran to Work with Italy’s Bankrupt Banks Using Euros

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Italy’s banking system authorities have agreed to let a number of the country’s bankrupt banks and the second and third-class banks to work with Iran using euro instead of dollar to skirt US sanctions, an Iranian official said.

In an interview with Tasnim, chairman of Iran-Italy joint chamber of commerce, Ahmad Poorfallah, said Italy has given permission for a number of its banks that are not reliant on US dollar and even for the bankrupt banks to work with Iran using euro.

The Italian banking system authorities have agreed to revive the bankrupt banks and set their activities on the basis of euro to enable them to cooperate with Iran, he added.

Despite the US sanctions against Iran, a number of second and third-class Italian banks have not halted interaction with Iran, Poorfallah noted, saying Iran had better work with Italy’s small and medium-sized businesses that use euros instead of cooperating with the big companies that use dollars and are afraid of the US penalties.

The United States re-imposed stiff economic sanctions on Iran earlier in August, three months after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

A first set of re-imposed US sanctions targeted financial transactions that involve US dollars, Iran's automotive sector, the purchase of commercial planes and metals including gold.

The second batch of US sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector and central bank are to be re-imposed in early November.

Trump warned that those who don't wind down their economic ties to Iran "risk severe consequences."

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