Bangkok, April 07: The German Foreign Ministry has stressed that the Hamburg-based European-Iranian Trade Bank AG (EIH Bank) will continue its activities in the country.
“The Hamburg-based EIH Bank is continuing its activities,” IRNA quoted the ministry’s spokesman, Andreas Peschke, as saying on Wednesday in a press conference in Berlin.
The remarks came after the The New York Times reported that the US “is concerned about recent reports that the German government authorized the use of EIH as a conduit for India’s oil payments to Iran.”
The Times added that Washington “will continue to engage with both German and Indian authorities about this situation, and will continue to work with all our allies to isolate EIH.”
But Peschke said that there is “no legal basis” to block EIH business activities.
He added that the bank is not targeted with EU sanctions [against Iran] and Germany also has not restricted the activities of EIH.
“There is no document to show that the bank violated the sanctions,” Peschke said, noting that the European-Iranian Trade Bank is strictly monitored by the German Bank supervision authorities.
The US says EIH provides financial services to four other banks already under EU and US sanctions, as well as serving as one of Iran’s access points to Europe’s financial system.
Although the US blacklisted EIH bank last year, Berlin said it had no evidence linking the bank to Iran’s nuclear program or breach of sanctions.
Iran’s Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani also stated on Wednesday EIH will continue its financial transactions despite US pressures.
“The bank has not encountered any specific problem yet and already fulfilled its commitments and will continue to do so,” Bahmani said.
——-Agencies