US Warns SWIFT Not to Provide Services to Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Belgian-based financial messaging service SWIFT could be hit with US sanctions if it provides services to Iranian financial institutions that Washington blacklists.
“SWIFT is no different than any other entity,” Mnuchin told reporters on a conference call on Friday, Reuters reported.
“We have advised SWIFT that it must disconnect any Iranian financial institutions that we designate as soon as technologically feasible to avoid sanctions exposure,” he added.
This is while top officials in the US Treasury Department have been pushing for Iran to remain connected to SWIFT.
Multiple American officials, who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon news website last month, said an internal battle was being fought inside the US administration in Washington to save Iran's access to international financial markets and provide Tehran with a critical lifeline in advance of the looming sanctions.
Leaders of the SWIFT banking system held meetings with US officials to make sure Tehran retained its access to the international banking system after Washington's unilateral withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal in May.
US President Donald Trump and some other officials have, however, says SWIFT and European countries should end their business with Tehran in a bid to put maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic.
