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multipurpose satellite 425 kilometres above the Earth’s surface. However, third-party tracking apps appear to have located the satellite in orbit, according to satellite enthusiasts’ posts on social media.
2.4​ ​Iran’s central bank governor says IMF should pay Tehran coronavirus emergency loan via Instex or SHTA channels
The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Abdolnasser Hemmati, has urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to use the EU trading mechanism known as Instex or the Swiss facility SHTA to provide Tehran with a $5bn emergency loan it has applied for to help it address the country’s severe coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Bloomberg has reported.
The possibility of the IMF paying the loan has been blocked by the US, with Trump administration officials claiming Iran’s ruling regime cannot be trusted to spend all of the money on humanitarian needs.
“These [trade] channels have been specially established to help buy foodstuffs and medicine. These channels have appropriate security mechanisms that would allay all concerns,” Hemmati has reportedly told IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva.
“The last time I checked, it’s not the United States running the IMF, but its management and the board of governors who oversee the work and ensure that the IMF delivers on its mandate,” he added.
Hemmati also said that CBI “reserves are under US sanctions overseas, which is illegal and unilateral, and I want to be clear about this. What we are saying is that the sanctions [the US continues to impose on Iran] should be lifted altogether; however, sadly, there are actors in the US government that have little regard for international law and order.”
In a letter to world leaders sent on March 14, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Europe and Iran were involved in the same struggle ​and how efforts to fight COVID-19 pandemic in Iran have been severely hampered by US sanctions, urging them to cease observing them.
The loan was Iran’s “natural right”, said Hemmati, given that the country is an IMF member.
Europe’s major powers have reportedly backed Iran as having a right to the loan behind the scenes at the IMF.
CNN quoted ​US officials on April 10 as saying​ ​they believed that the money would not actually go towards the country's public health crisis.
"The world's leading state sponsor of terrorism is seeking cash to fund its adventurism abroad, not to buy medicine for Iranians," it cited a US State Department spokesperson as saying. "The regime's corrupt officials have a long history of diverting funds allocated for humanitarian goods into their own pockets and to their terrorist proxies."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said. "We haven't asked for anything from
7​ IRAN Country Report May 2020 www.intellinews.com