AFP, Paris :
Iran may technically be open to foreign investors after a nuclear deal with Western powers, but many sanctions remain, deterring potential business partners who fear the US could hit them again with punishing fines.
In January, the United States and other Western powers lifted sanctions related to Tehran’s nuclear programme, mostly on oil exports and financial transactions.
But it remains on Washington’s sanctions list in other areas, notably for allegedly supporting terrorism and its human rights record.
“Iran sanctions are still very much alive,” Farhad Alavi, a US-based lawyer specialising in sanctions application, told AFP.
This echoes remarks by John Smith, acting director of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), to a congressional panel in February that “broadly, the US primary embargo on Iran is still in place”.
Most importantly, the Islamic Republic remains on an international blacklist owing to its alleged sponsoring of what Washington and its allies regard as terror groups.
This means that US banks, or major foreign banks with US-based operations, are fighting shy of handling Iranian funds, fearful they could suffer a repeat dose of fines totalling some $15 billion (13.2 billion euros) over the past five years handed down by US regulators.
“As we offer banking services through our US operations we are required to continue to restrict business activity with Iran,” Barclays chief executive Jes Staley said.
The biggest fine for sanctions violations, at $8.9 billion, was slapped on BNP Paribas but the likes of HSBC and Commerzbank also suffered.
Still, since an agreement nine months ago limiting Tehran’s nuclear programme to “exclusively peaceful” purposes, followed by “Implementation Day” in January, both sides have been exploring a revival of business links.
Iran may technically be open to foreign investors after a nuclear deal with Western powers, but many sanctions remain, deterring potential business partners who fear the US could hit them again with punishing fines.
In January, the United States and other Western powers lifted sanctions related to Tehran’s nuclear programme, mostly on oil exports and financial transactions.
But it remains on Washington’s sanctions list in other areas, notably for allegedly supporting terrorism and its human rights record.
“Iran sanctions are still very much alive,” Farhad Alavi, a US-based lawyer specialising in sanctions application, told AFP.
This echoes remarks by John Smith, acting director of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), to a congressional panel in February that “broadly, the US primary embargo on Iran is still in place”.
Most importantly, the Islamic Republic remains on an international blacklist owing to its alleged sponsoring of what Washington and its allies regard as terror groups.
This means that US banks, or major foreign banks with US-based operations, are fighting shy of handling Iranian funds, fearful they could suffer a repeat dose of fines totalling some $15 billion (13.2 billion euros) over the past five years handed down by US regulators.
“As we offer banking services through our US operations we are required to continue to restrict business activity with Iran,” Barclays chief executive Jes Staley said.
The biggest fine for sanctions violations, at $8.9 billion, was slapped on BNP Paribas but the likes of HSBC and Commerzbank also suffered.
Still, since an agreement nine months ago limiting Tehran’s nuclear programme to “exclusively peaceful” purposes, followed by “Implementation Day” in January, both sides have been exploring a revival of business links.
