It would be a confidence-building step if Germany facilitates the transfer of funds Iran wants, a lawmaker said on Friday, adding that taking an "ambigious" stance on the nuclear deal and trade with Tehran will destroy opportunities for cooperation.
"On the one hand, the Europeans say they stand by Iran on the JCPOA issue and want to have relations in diverse areas, including the financial and banking sectors. But suddenly they move to block the transfer of our assets by passing new and strict regulations," Asghar Salimi told ICANA, using the technical term for the nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
He was referring to the fact that 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 US presses allies to get tough on Tehran.
Iran wants to bring back 320 million euros ($400 million) it has in the European-Iranian Trade Bank ahead of new US sanctions.
On Friday, Germany’s central bank, Bundesbank, said it has revised its regulations to stop Iran from withdrawing €320 million in cash from the country’s bank accounts.
Under the new conditions, Bundesbank can stop cash transfers that violate US Treasury sanctions, the German newspaper Bild disclosed.
"Unfortunately, the stance adopted by European countries, including Germany, toward our country is not clear," Salimi said, adding that the survival of the historic nuclear deal depends on Europe's fulfillment of its commitments.
The lawmaker from Semirom in Isfahan Province said the German move was due to mounting US pressure and goes against the EU pledge to help salvage the nuclear accord by upholding financial cooperation with Iran after the US abandoned the agreement.
In the US Pocket
Lawmaker Alireza Ebrahimi says Germany's plan to introduce new financial rules not only put Europe's "goodwill" under a big question mark but also showed that it cannot make independent decisions.
"The US is doing all it can to step up political and economic pressure against the people of our country through various means," ICANA quoted him as saying on Friday.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the amendment to Germany's banking rules follows intense US lobbying with the government in Berlin and the central bank to stop Iran from claiming its own assets in Germany.
US Ambassador in Berlin Richard Grenell said on Saturday that the US is grateful to the German government "for recognizing the need to act," AP reported.
