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2.3​ ​US-approved Swiss humanitarian trade channel for Iran is not a sign of Washington’s goodwill says Zarif
Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on February 3 that the Swiss channel set up to enable sanctions-shielded flows of humanitarian goods to the Islamic Republic is not a sign of the US’s goodwill, Iran’s Student News Agency (ISNA) reported.
The Swiss and US governments on January 30 said the channel to bring food and medicine to Iran had commenced trial operations.
“This is a small step and we thank the Swiss government for its efforts ... but this channel is not a sign of America’s goodwill at all,” ISNA quoted Javad Zarif as saying. Iranian officials refer to the US “maximum pressure” sanctions-led campaign targeted at Iran as an “economic war” illegal under international law that is hurting ordinary people. There have been reports in the past year of hospitals being unable to source medicines from abroad due to transaction difficulties caused by fear of US secondary sanctions applied to parties continuing to do business with Iran.
“This channel is less than the order of implementation of the International Court of Justice, which told the United States it does not have the right to block the entry of food and medicine into Iran,” Zarif also told reporters.
“America’s policy is still a policy of pressure on the Iranian people. It is a policy of depriving people of financial resources to purchase food and medicine,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Swiss embassy in Tehran announced on February 2 that the long-awaited humanitarian channel had launched with a shipment of medicines desperately needed for transplant patients.
Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Markus Leitner announced the launch of the Swiss financial mechanism following an approval from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
2.4​ ​Rouhani calls for Iran to abide by rules of global anti-money laundering watchdog to safeguard bank ties
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on January 27 that Iran should abide by the rules as laid out by a global anti-money laundering watchdog in order to safeguard ties between the sanctions-hit country and international banks.​ A compliance deadline of February was set by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
“A bill, approved by the government and parliament [on FATF compliance] cannot just hang there awaiting approval ... and cause problems in our interactions with international banks,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live by his official website President.ir.
“Our national interests should not be ignored and we should not let [US President Donald) Trump and those terrorists in the White House cut Iran’s relationship with international banks,” he added.
7​ IRAN Country Report​ February 2020 www.intellinews.com