Business as Usual at BMI’s Overseas Branches

CEO of Bank Melli Iran, Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh, said the US pullout from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal has failed to undermine the bank’s overseas operations. “The US withdrawal from JCPOA will not harm the activity of BMI’s foreign branches,” Hosseinzadeh said, using an abbreviation that stands for the formal name of the landmark accord, namely the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “BMI branches continue to offer daily foreign currency services to traders, exporters, importers and other clients,” the bank’s website quoted Hosseinzadeh as saying on Tuesday.  The deal was negotiated between Iran and six major powers during the previous US administration to scale down Tehran’s nuclear work in return for the easing of international sanctions, including those on the banking sector. “What posed a challenge to the operations of our foreign branches [prior to the JCPOA] were sanctions imposed by the United Nations and European Union, none of which is now in force,” Hosseinzadeh said.