Friday night, the US Treasury again sanctioned several banking institutions, including the Central Bank of Iran. The sanctions were announced two days after US President Donald Trump's order for further sanctions against Iran. Following the sanction, Central Bank Chief Abdul Nasser Hemmati wrote on his personal page that the country's trade and financial transactions are done in ways that are virtually unsanctionable by Americans.
In this regard, the treasurer of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture told IRNA that Iran's sanctions are not new, or by the recent US government. We have always been subject to sanctions since the victory of the Islamic Revolution and at various times have been of great importance considering the situation of the Islamic Republic at that juncture. That is to say, the United States has at any period of time clearly imposed restrictions commensurate at that time.
Gholamhossein Jamili went on to say that if we had been sanctioned five years ago, then the sanctions would have been very difficult for us at that time and today's sanctions would have been very difficult for the current situation. Yet history and experience have shown that Iran, as it has been through these crises and hardships for the past five years, will certainly leave new sanctions behind by replacing new solutions and planning for the coming days.
He stated that the hostility of the US and its statesmen to Iran has no end and highlighted that certainly our path to success depends on economic, political independence and adherence to the country's internal capabilities and convergence.
The member of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, referring to the economic interests of the countries of the world, noted that other countries also have common interests and cannot easily ignore their economic interests. Apart from the fact that we are looking for new ways, many countries have solutions that are ongoing and are constantly being updated because of the economic benefits of their country.
I totally disagree with INSTEX because the mechanism was designed with a purpose that was receded and there was no longer any targeting. As a result, one cannot rely too much on this, Jamili said of the impact of the recent sanction on the INSTEX implementation process.
He emphasized the need for increased domestic reliance and noted that until last year we have left behind various economic crises such as the currency crisis. Were the economic situation and sanctions more severe when the currency fluctuated or today? At that time, convergence between non-state actors and government policymakers stopped the crisis in the country.
Although one cannot consider an economy without looking at international markets and foreign countries and their dependence, the economist believes that this dependency can be reduced.
It is true that many countries have their own financial transactions based on banking systems and virtual and monetary transactions in such networks, but it is possible to create mutual interests between several countries to restore the past system, Jamili said.
He explained that "we do not necessarily need money transfers, underlining that we produce a series of goods and we need a series of commodities"; these commodities can be bartered with specific countries, which, incidentally, form mutual bonds between them and its security and sustainability will be greater.
Finally, he said that digital currency codes and money could also be useful for the country because of the nature of their exchanges during the sanctions, and highlighted that there are many other ways to make sanctions less effective.
Central Bank sanctions are not new
Ali Naqib, a member of the Iran Chamber of Commerce's Money and Capital Market Commission, told IRNA that we have been sanctions for several years. For the business we know the exchanges have to be done through Swift but does Swift work? We've always had problems with financial transactions in the country, but we've done most by the remittances and nothing left.
He went on to say that I feel the US President's political actions have already been taken and Iran has been able to carry out its affairs under conditions of maximum pressure.
Naqib described Trump's recent move as "inaccurate", and added that the Central Bank had actually been sanctioned before, but "we have always gone our own way and not reached a dead end".
On the other hand, Vice Chairman of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce Hossein Selahvarzai believes that alternative measures can reduce the impact of the sanctions.
"It seems that by replacing the barter trade and bilateral agreements we will be able to do transactions and financial transactions with the least damage," he told IRNA.
Selahvarzai believes that while the sanctions could disrupt the process of a mechanism such as the one in INSTEX, it is not a new issue that Iran and the Central Bank cannot handle. As before, such experiences have been recorded in Iranian history.
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