Iran remains off limits to US banks

NEW YORK: Iran remains essentially off limits to US banks, despite the lifting of some US sanctions following the landmark Iranian nuclear deal.

The Obama administration in mid-January eased several restrictionsondoingbusinesswith Iran, including former ‘secondary’ sanctions that had threatened to penalize companies outside the US fortheirbusinesswithIran,aswell as some restrictions on Americans seeking to make inroads in the oilrich country.

Nevertheless, most “primary” sanctions tied to accusations that Tehran supports terrorism remain in effect, blocking US businesses from joining a rush by non-US companies to cash in on Iran’s potential revival.

It means that US banks have little access to the oil-rich country compared to their rivals in other countries.

They mostly cannot handle transactions for US and other companies involved in Iran, and the Iranian government and private entities cannot open accounts with US banks.

“Broadly, the US primary embargo on Iran is still in place,” John Smith, acting director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), told a congressional panel on Thursday.

The sanctions still in place were imposed not over Iran’s nuclear program but its record on terrorism and human rights.

That means the easing arising from the nuclear deal so far “does not have any impact on us,” said an official with one large New York bank who requested anonymity.

“We’re still very prohibited from engaging in just about any business activity with Iran except on very limited exceptions.”

Several leading US banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, declined comment on the issue.