Blogs > UAE HELPS IRAN BYPASS SANCTIONS

Nov 30, 2007

UAE HELPS IRAN BYPASS SANCTIONS



Our good friends in the UAE which include Dubai of the port fame and Abu Dhabi (whose SWF just bought 10% of Citigroup)are helping Iran to bypass those sanctions which are supposesd to help us avoid war. The Financial Times reports:

. . . the UAE has become the main window to foil official and de facto sanctions against Iran, say businessmen in Tehran. The Iranian government, they add, has established"private companies" that help to bypass the effects of sanctions.

"There are so many ways to do business through the UAE and Americans cannot do much," said one former official.

Following UN sanctions targeting the Iranian banking sector, most money transfers are made via UAE banks.

Despite declines in trade with European countries, including Germany and Italy, many believe unofficial trade with these countries is rising through Dubai.

Most international banks have stopped doing business with Iran because of US pressure, which has gone beyond the UN sanctions placed on a few big Iranian financial institutions.

UAE-based banks are reluctant to deal with companies that are likely to import goods into Iran, says Nasser Hashempour, vice-president of the Dubai-based Iranian Business Council.

Oh, yes. They also invest in the country:

A group of Iranian investors based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are keen to invest in economic projects of the Hormuzgan province.

Investors -the majority of whom are originally from the Hormuzgan province- were encouraged by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his recent visit to UAE to come to Iran for investment.

The investment plans by the prospective investors include the construction of a cooking oil refinery in Bandar Abbas valued $300 million, an iron factory valued $500 million and the construction of two industrial sites valued around $22 million each.

Deputy Governor General of Hormuzgan province asserted that investment by these investors will create a total of 8,000 jobs in the province.

With friends like these . . . Yes, our navy is supposed to protect them!



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