The Iran Primer

 

Brussels, 15 March 2012 – Following an EU Council decision, SWIFT is today announcing it has been instructed to discontinue its communications services to Iranian financial institutions that are subject to European sanctions.

 

The new European Council decision, as confirmed by the Belgian Treasury, prohibits companies such as SWIFT to continue to provide specialised financial messaging services to EU-sanctioned Iranian banks. SWIFT is incorporated under Belgian law and has to comply with this decision as confirmed by its home country government.

 

“This EU decision forces SWIFT to take action” said Lázaro Campos, CEO of SWIFT. “Disconnecting banks is an extraordinary and unprecedented step for SWIFT. It is a direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran.”
The EU-sanctioned Iranian financial institutions and the SWIFT customer community have been notified of the disconnection, which will become effective on Saturday 17 March at 16.00 GMT.

 

SWIFT has been and remains in full compliance with all applicable sanctions regulations of the multiple jurisdictions in which it operates, and has received confirmation of this from the competent regulatory authorities. As a global provider of secure messaging services, SWIFT has no involvement in or control over the underlying financial transactions that are contained in the messages of its member banks.

 

 

 

 

Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen issued the following statement today:

 

“The United States welcomes today’s action by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to terminate services for designated Iranian banks, which we understand includes the Central Bank of Iran. We commend the EU for directing that no specialized financial messaging services can be provided by any entity in the EU for sanctioned Iranian entities and for the prompt response by the Belgian Treasury and SWIFT to the EU’s action.

 

“Today’s decision reflects the growing international consensus that substantially increased pressure is needed to convince the Iranian regime to address the international community’s concerns about its illicit nuclear activities. Taken in the context of increasingly powerful sanctions applied by the United States, the EU, and many others in the international community, today’s action reinforces the isolation of designated Iranian banks from the international financial sector.

 

“The United States will continue to work closely with our European and other partners in the international community to increase further the pressure on Iran and to strengthen the impact of our sanctions.”

 

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