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Central Bank of Iraq limits the activities of Iran’s Bank Melli branches in Iraq
An executive at the Bank Melli of Iran reported that the government of Iraq has limited the activities of Iranian banks in that country.
Mohsen AminZare said: “We have three Iraq branches in Najaf, Baghdad, and Basra, all of which have been recently restricted in their activities by the Central Bank of Iraq.”
“The Central Bank of Iraq has stationed someone at our branch which is impeding a lot of our work,” says AminZare.
The Central Bank of Iraq ordered other Iraqi banks in the Summer “not to use the dollar in their dealings with Iranian banks.”
The prime minister of Iraq at the time had said that Iraq is against imposing sanctions on Iran, but in order to protect the Iraqi people, Baghdad will abide by these sanctions.
The current prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, said last year that “Iraq will not be part of any US sanctions against Iran or any other country.”
The Islamic Republic officials have tried to expand their banking activities in Iraq in order to use the Iraqi banking system in the face of the sanctions. However, Amin-Zare’s recent comments indicated that deliberations and talks between the Islamic Republic officials with their Iraqi counterparts have not reached a desirable outcome.
Amin-Zare stated: “The country strongly needs thee currency gained from the exports. The Melli Bank is an important arm of the Central Bank of Iran and it is as helpful in providing currency as the other 25 banks in this field combined.
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