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At a time when constructive diplomatic relations between Europe and Iran may prove instrumental in efforts to stave off a regional conflict, the speedy operationalization of INSTEX remains an imperative—a point underscored by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell following his first trip to Tehran earlier this month.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body that sets standards to combat money laundering and terrorist finance, has placed Iran back on its infamous “blacklist,” following the failure of Iranian policymakers to enact two key bills in accordance with an action plan set in 2016.
For the first time, the Treasury Department has issued a letter of comfort to a foreign financial institution conducting sanctions exempt trade with Iran. This move, made in accordance with the launch of a new Swiss channel for humanitarian trade with Iran, could introduce a new tool for U.S. authorities which have struggled to provide credible sanctions relief.
The Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), a payment mechanism to enable humanitarian goods to be delivered to Iran, is about to be implemented. On 27 January, an initial payment for the shipment of medicines to Iran was approved in the form of a trial run.
The contents of an email shared with Bourse & Bazaar by an official at Iran’s communications ministry suggest that China’s Bank of Kunlun is weighing whether to cease processing Iran-related payments. There is growing concern in Tehran that China may be planning to downgrade its trade relationship with Iran.
Immigration from Iran to Georgia has been sharply increasing: Since 2012 the net number of Iranian immigrants in Georgia has increased more than tenfold, reaching 3,413 in 2018, the last year for which statistics are available. The same year, Iranians made up the largest group of foreign nationals getting temporary residence permits.
The Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 tragedy presents the Trump administration an opportunity to demonstrate its often-stated goodwill toward the Iranian people by responding to the formal invitation from Iran and enabling the participation of US experts from Boeing and investigative body NTSB.
Iran’s business community is taking stock after the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani as the possibility of a direct conflict with the United States threatens serious consequences for an already beleaguered Iranian economy. Both the currency market and stock market saw further losses on Monday, the final day of a three-day period of mourning.
The storming of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad by Iran-backed militias produced many surreal scenes, but perhaps none more so than that captured in a video shared widely on social media. The short clip shows a green garbage can found at the embassy, which the protestors recognized as an Iranian-made product.
Today, a new Iranian precariat is seeking economic justice. Iranian economic planners and policymakers, like their fellow technocrats around the world, are struggling to find the pathway to continued growth in the face of factional infighting and foreign interference.
Medicines and foodstuffs are exempted from the U.S. sanctions on Iran, but the prospect of punishment has spooked potential suppliers, and especially foreign banks. Although this problem is easily fixed, President Donald Trump’s administration has been shamefully tardy in doing so.
In the first two weeks of December, Iranian government officials and business leaders participated in bilateral economic summits with counterparts from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan—the highest-level economic exchanges with these countries in several years. Iran is expanding its “neighborhood policy” to Central Asia as it seeks to grow its non-oil exports.
The aftermath of the protests presents significant challenges for the Iranian leadership. The Islamic Republic is dealing with severe economic difficulties and a fraying of the political fabric. Washington will use the recent unrest to argue against Europe engaging with Tehran. But diplomacy remains the only viable path to deescalation. Europeans, led by Emmanuel Macron, must protect the space for dialogue.
Iran’s programmers had to battle a suspicious state and a dismissive public to usher Iran into the digital age. Now, in the aftermath of a nationwide internet blackout, triggered in response to the recent protests, the resolve of the country’s programming community is being tested like never before.
The gasoline price hike of November 15 triggered widespread violent protests in Iranian cities. Three days later the government announced that it would increase the amount of cash transfers to compensate for the price increase and soften its blow. But do the new transfers adequately compensate for the gasoline price increase?
As the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign rolls on, it might seem like Europe not only lacks the means to defend its trade with the Islamic Republic, but also that there’s little left to defend. But even with significant barriers, Europe continues to export billions of dollars of parts, machinery, and transport equipment to Iran.
Earlier this month, the Statistical Center of Iran reported a record high level of employed Iranians, with nearly 25 million people in work. Meanwhile, the IMF has revised down its 2019 projection for Iran’s economic growth to -9.5 percent. What explains the divergent narratives in Iran’s employment data and growth data?
At first glance, the IMF’s new projection that Iran’s economy will contact 9.5% this year seems to support the Trump administration’s claims that its “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign is bringing the Iranian economy to the brink. But Iran’s economy is poised rebound to zero growth next year—despite the sanctions.
◢ The Treasury Department has announced that it will operationalize a financial channel to facilitate humanitarian trade with Iran, after privately acknowledging to European officials that recent sanctions imposed on the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) risked encumbering trade in food and medicine. But the new channel may cause more problems than it solves.
◢ An Iranian contractor has completed a water supply tunnel in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka, earning the praise of thousands on social media. The technical capacity of Iranian contractors remains unheralded, even as both state and private sector firms assemble impressive portfolios of completed transport, energy, and urban development projects abroad.
