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Iranian Rial


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2 hours ago, screwball said:

The announcement was made by a top official at the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), as reported by the domestic media.

Hamid Qanbari, the deputy director of the CBI for providing foreign currencies, told a seminar in Tehran that the Islamic Republic had realized about the move through a recent announcement by the US Treasury Department.    

Qanbari added that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had recently clarified that Americans residing in Iran can have bank accounts in the country.

This is a good start and positive for Iran and possibly U.S.A. in the future.

2 hours ago, screwball said:

Details of OFAC’s authorization for US citizens to have bank accounts in Iran are still not known.  Nevertheless, it is expected to be a groundbreaking development that could help facilitate business with Iran specifically if it is expanded to include companies, as well.

screwball Thanks, Very interesting news to say the least.   We will see where this goes and more than likely U.S. Companies will be allowed to directly do business as well.  

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16 minutes ago, tigergorzow said:

This is a good start and positive for Iran and possibly U.S.A. in the future.

screwball Thanks, Very interesting news to say the least.   We will see where this goes and more than likely U.S. Companies will be allowed to directly do business as well.  

Dude.......this is insanely HUGE!!!  Once US companies that are in line to go in to do business, I'd say it'll definitely be a wrap!!  I just can't fathom that it is still a possibility the Rial might pop before the Dinar!!  What do you all think?

You amaze us again Screwball!!  CHEEEEEERS!! :cheesehead:

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2 hours ago, Freedomwish said:

Dude.......this is insanely HUGE!!!  Once US companies that are in line to go in to do business, I'd say it'll definitely be a wrap!!  I just can't fathom that it is still a possibility the Rial might pop before the Dinar!!  What do you all think?

You amaze us again Screwball!!  CHEEEEEERS!! :cheesehead:

My opinion and it is only my opinion it will go before Iraq but time will tell...if the rumours are right about them going together then they could,pops the same time but I have seen no evidence to suggest this is the case. Iran will do what Iran wants to,do!

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The government has not stopped reviewing the two banking reform bills, said the vice governor of the Central Bank of Iran rejecting earlier claims about the bills being returned to the CBI.

“Banking Reform Bill and Central Bank Bill are being reviewed regularly by a special committee after the Cabinet’s weekly meetings,” Akbar Komijani was quoted as saying by IBENA on Monday.

“We are planning to focus on key issues and modify the necessary parts. The banking reform bill is being reviewed carefully every Wednesday after the ministers’ meetings.”

Seyyed Abbas Mousavian, a member of the bank’s Fiqh Council, announced on Saturday that the two banking bills have been sent back by the Cabinet for the CBI and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance to conduct more reviews on them.

Mousavian claimed that the Cabinet, which was supposed to ratify the draft bill before forwarding it to the parliament for final approval, had found shortcomings in them.

Asked about the finalization of the draft bill by the government, Komijani said, “It is a time-consuming process … It is not possible to predict when the two bills will be sent to the parliament.”

Majlis Economic Commission had announced late October that the longstanding reform bills would be finalized in the parliament before the end of the current fiscal year in March.

The Banking Reform Bill defines the duties of the banks and non-bank credit institutions, explains all banking operations and services, sets up a professional set of criteria for selecting new chief executives and board members, and makes provisions for setting up internal risk and auditing committees.

The Central Bank Bill is aimed at bolstering its independence, enhancing monetary policymaking and increasing its supervision over the financial market.

 

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Asenior official of the Central Bank of Iran outlined past and future measures of President Hassan Rouhani's government in line with the implementation of Resistance Economy principles and the beneficial effects of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers on the economy.

"Coupled with the general approach of CBI to improve monetary discipline, managing liquidity growth, maintaining the stability of currency market, robust financing of the economy, redirecting resources toward manufacturing and supporting the small- and medium-sized enterprises, a general platform has been laid out for the betterment of the general performance of macroeconomic variables," Akbar Komijani, the vice governor of CBI, was also reported as saying by the official news website of the central bank.       

Speaking at the National Conference on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Its Effects and Consequences in Post-Sanctions Era and Resistance Economy, Komijani pointed to measures considered by the central bank to advance the goals of Resistance Economy.

He identified these measures as “organizing uncertified financial institutions, undertaking an all-encompassing reform of the banking system, clearing government arrears to the banks and private sector, and conforming banking regulations and transactions to international laws and standards”.

Resistance Economy refers to a set of principles outlined by the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei aimed at bolstering domestic production, curbing dependence on oil exports, improving productivity and encouraging Iranians to buy domestically-manufactured products.

 Impacts of JCPOA

The CBI’s second-in-command directed his attention to Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers implemented in January, proceeding to outline the conditions of Iranian economy in 10 categories before the sanctions, at the peak of sanctions and after they were lifted as a result of the accord.

Komijani noted that banking correspondent relations have been established with 600 non-American banks before the sanctions.

Correspondent relations were cut off “with all credible international banks” during the sanctions and were reduced to about 50, but they have significantly improved – albeit “not to a suitable level yet”–and stand at more than 200 at present.

On international  interbank messaging systems, he noted that Iranian banks were able to employ SWITF and REUTERS systems, while they were unable to do so at the height of sanctions and were forced to use “traditional mechanisms such as Telex and coded fax”. As a result of JCPOA, SWIFT was reestablished for Iranian banks.

The third factor was safeguarding the country’s currency reserves mainly resulting from oil sales, which could not be moved to a third country after the sanctions and therefore CBI was forced to keep them “in a limited number of countries that bought oil from Iran”.

Now, Komijani added, the central bank is free to maintain them in various countries.

Before the sanctions, Iran’s international payments were mainly done through letters of credit, “which incur the least costs and are safest”, but as a result of non-existent correspondent banking relations during the sanctions, the country used the “risky mechanism of payment orders”.

“This process is being slowly reverted,” he added.

“Iran’s best OECD risk rating has been three out of seven,” said Komijani, pointing out that it had been downgraded to seven as a result of the sanctions.

It has now improved to six and “endeavors are underway to further improve it”.

The official referred to Iran’s presence in international financial and monetary community as the next factor, saying the country “is employing their technical assistance” as much as possible.

Iran’s ability to obtain banknotes, gold and precious metals was significantly hindered by the sanctions, he added, which conditions has been remedied and can now be done “through non-American individuals”.

 Foreign Finance

Komijani said the country was able to use foreign capital to finance local projects before the sanctions, which was limited to a bare minimum and “in the few possible instances, it was with the backing of CBI resources and entailed high costs”.

Now, he added, a number of countries have announced the amount of credit they want to allocate to the country and negotiations are underway with others.

He pointed to the didactic services of expert organizations and credible international banks employed by Iran before the sanctions, which were remarkably hindered afterwards.

“The process has restarted,” he said, adding that many educational seminars and courses are being held for Iranian banks, the effects of which “will be tangible in the financial and banking regime of the country”.

The CBI official referred to taking part in the international capital market as the final factor, which “seemed impossible” under sanctions, especially considering that it was limited even earlier.

In the JCPOA, he concluded, it has been cited that “it is now possible to procure financing from foreign capital markets, although the implementation of this process requires time”. 

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Legislators on Sunday extended the enforcement of value added tax for the upcoming fiscal year (starting March 21) and dropped the newly-proposed article narrowing the tax base to the final consumer.

On Saturday, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia and Chairman of Iranian National Tax Administration Seyyed Kamel Taqavinejad voiced concerns over replacing VAT with consumption tax, saying the move would lead to the loss of close to 400 trillion rials ($10.58 billion) in revenues, IRNA reported.

Tayyebnia said as many as 500,000 taxpayers, including major producers and importers, pay around 150 trillion rials ($3.96 billion) as VAT every year.

“If consumption tax becomes law, tax authorities will have to deal with over 3 million retailers across the country,” he added.

VAT is a general consumption tax collected incrementally, based on the value added at each stage of production or distribution, whereas the proposed consumption tax narrows the tax base to the final consumer.

Advocates of consumption tax believe the mechanism is simpler and more effective compared to VAT. They also argue that it will help improve transparency and prevent corruption.

Two main violations are usually reported regarding the implementation of VAT Law. First, some business owners charge VAT but do not pay the same to the government. Second, the government collects VAT but avoids paying the revenues to related bodies.

To prevent such violations, only the final consumer—the last point in a distribution chain—must be charged consumption tax, according to a report recently published by the Persian daily Shahrvand.

According to INTA chief, VAT accounts for 50% or 1,700 trillion rials ($45.04 billion) of government revenues.

“INTA pays over 600 trillion rials of VAT revenues to municipalities and 50 trillion to the Health Ministry for the Healthcare Reform Plan,” he added.

The VAT Law took effect in the Iranian year to March 2009 and is being extended every year. VAT currently stands at 9% in Iran.

 

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EconomyBusiness And Markets
Tuesday, March 07, 2017

Growth Hinges on Housing Expansion 

 

A5% economic growth is predicted for the next Iranian year (starting March 21) and since oil and agriculture sectors have already developed, in order to reach the aforementioned growth, housing and industrial sectors need to expand, said the chairman of Majlis Planning and Budget Commission.

“Majlis has allocated about 70 trillion rials ($18.5 billion) to construction projects in the 2017-18 budget while the figure needs to be multiplied to bring about a 5% growth in the economy,” Gholamreza Tajgardoun also said during a TV interview as reported by Eximnews website.

Members of Majlis Development Commission had earlier said that the share of housing budget in 2017-18 will be adequate if it is realized in full, while others warned about gloomier days for the beleaguered sector.

In total, 8.14 trillion rials ($206.9 million) have been considered for the housing sector, which constitute less than 10% of the total budget allocated to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.

The housing sector has been suffering from deep recession for some years now. Government schemes such as establishing the Housing Savings Account to provide cheap mortgages to first-time homebuyers have not helped revive the sector.

A scheme by builders to sell houses on installments also met with lackluster demand.

Tajgardoun noted that lack of resources can be made up by attracting investments, issuing bonds and directing funds toward the production sector. “Tax income is predicted to surpass oil income in next year’s budget since it is going to increase by 20%,” he added.

According to the official, no price increases are forecast in the new budget while vulnerable strata have received special attention and the pension system will become fairer.

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The average rate of banks’ lending rate is about 18% while banks’ operation raises it to 20-25%.
 
 
EconomyBusiness And Markets
Tuesday, March 07, 2017

Penalties Account for 50% of Banks’ Income

 

More than 50% of many banks’ income are generated through penalty fees while this way of allocating loans will amount to a compound interest, said a member of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.

“This approach of banks in allocating loans will result in the bankruptcy and closure of production sectors,” Amir Hossein Kaveh was also quoted as saying by IRNA.

According to the Central Bank of Iran’s statistics, public and private sector debts have increased by 25% in the 10-month period to January 19 compared with the corresponding period of last year.

“This method of banking has never been approved by Islam plus it is neither in line with economic facts nor helpful to the production sector,” he said.

Kaveh noted that the average rate of banks’ lending rate is about 18% while banks’ operation raises it to 20-25%, adding that blocking the borrowers’ deposit until the payback is complete and levying a 6% penalty on debtors are to the disadvantage of loan receivers.

“The government allocated 160 trillion rials ($4.2 billion) to foster the production sector by assigning  cheap loans but in reality those cheap loans did not materialize,” he said.

The Central Bank of Iran has ordered banks and credit institutions to allocate a minimum 10% of their loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises to help create jobs and boost the beleaguered production sector.

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France to Issue Loans to Firms Investing in Iran: Minister 

News ID: 1346263 Service: Economy 
 March, 05, 2017 - 15:00 
طیب نیا فرانسه

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Paris is working on plans to issue direct loans to companies eager to invest in Iran. 

“We are trying to help these companies,” Sapin told reporters at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Tayebnia, in Tehran, Bloomberg reported.

“They will be able to apply for loans, but it’s not active yet. We are working on this,” he added.

Sapin said he was “confident” that banking relations between Tehran and Paris would be normalized in due time and said he was seeking clarification from the US government on the extent to which its sanctions will impact French banks working with Iran.

French companies were among the first to return to Iran after anti-Tehran sanctions were removed last year under a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached the nuclear deal in July 2015 and implemented it in January last year.

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15 hours ago, screwball said:

Americans can now open bank accounts in Iran

Mon Mar 6, 2017 6:5PM
  1. Home
  2. Iran
  3. Economy
The exterior of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).
The exterior of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI). 

Iran says it has been informed by Washington that US nationals can have bank accounts in the Islamic Republic.  

The announcement was made by a top official at the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), as reported by the domestic media.

Hamid Qanbari, the deputy director of the CBI for supply of foreign currencies, told a seminar in Tehran that the Islamic Republic had realized about the move through a recent announcement by the US Treasury Department.    

Qanbari added that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had recently clarified that Americans residing in Iran can have bank accounts in the country.

He emphasized that this was legally binding and enjoyed the support of the US administration. 

For the past decades, Iran has been subject to a series of primary sanctions imposed by the US that include tough restrictions on banking activities and the Islamic Republic’s access to the dollar.

Those restrictions were intensified as a series of bans were approved against Iran as a result of disputes over the country's nuclear energy activities.  Those bans were lifted in early 2016 after the country reached a deal with the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.  However, US primary sanctions still remain.

To the same effect, many companies - specifically European enterprises – that are wary of US punitive measures still see Washington’s restrictions against doing business with Iran as serious obstacles.

Details of OFAC’s authorization for US citizens to have bank accounts in Iran are still not known.  Nevertheless, it is expected to be a groundbreaking development that could help facilitate business with Iran specifically if it is expanded to include companies, as well.

I'm awake now!! Issue lower denoms and expand global banking ties!!

Thanks Screwballs!!

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13 hours ago, millionaire in training said:

Haaaaaa......:lol:   :lol:   :lol:.......That was my reaction too when I first read this then I scrolled down and read that you had post it.    LOL...   :lol:  :P 

 :cheesehead:  here's to you  :cheesehead:

Yup!!  Just to let you know, I did screamed saying this out loud, then I typed it in this thread HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :lol::lol::lol:

Thanks and cheers to you and all here!! :cheesehead:  I feel we're almost there!!...........................Well, it feels like it! :rocking-chair::lol::praying:

Edited by Freedomwish
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TEHRAN, Mar. 07 (MNA) – A senior banking director has reported on establishment of an Iranian-European bank with three members of Iran and four from Europe serving on the management board.

Ahmad Haji Mohammadi, Manager of International Affairs of Sarmeye Bank, said international monetary institutions had evaluated Iranian banks in terms of transparency and efficiency; “agreements have been reached to launch an Iranian-European bank in one of EU countries with Iran and Europe enjoying 47 and 53 per cent of the shares respectively.

Emphasizing the need for Iranian financial institutions to bolster relations with European countries, the official added “as such, the board of directors for the new bank comprises seven people, three Iranian members and four from Europe.”

The bank will be established in Europe early into the upcoming Iranian calendar year (to begin March 20), he added.

Haji Mohammadi said three directors had been introduced by the Iranian part though they had to receive approval from the central bank of the destination country.

“Iran’s share in the bank will be paid once it is launched as well as that the initial legal deposit will be funded by partners though Iran will be required to settle the amount in future,” underlined the senior banking director.

The official said Sarmeye Bank had never been boycotted and had always enjoyed access to SWIFT system event in times of sanctions; “globally speaking, the Iranian bank had been always deemed as transparent as evidenced by the exchange of information conducted with European partners.”

In view of good conditions, Haji Mohammadi said, we accepted the proposal of a European bank for establishment of a joint bank though necessary permits have been received from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).

On buying shares of European banks, the official said “we hold the intention to buy shares of an EU bank which has been put on sale though the purchase has not been finalized yet.”

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Tehran, Bangkok stress need to strengthen banking coop.

ظریف
News ID: 3926090 - Tue 7 March 2017 - 15:13
JAKARTA, Mar. 07 (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a meeting with his Thai counterpart stressed the need for the expansion of cooperation.

Heading a delegation, Javad Zarif arrived in Jakarta on Monday to participate in the first summit of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held on Tuesday.

He met with Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai on the sidelines of the event, and send the invitation of President Rouhani to Thai Prime Minister to visit Iran.

“Many Iranian tourists visit Thailand, which indicates the need for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism and tourist exchanges,” Zarif added.

Iranian foreign minister described well the advancement of preferential trade agreement inked between the two countries and emphasized the need to strengthen banking cooperation.

Thailand's foreign minister, for his part, highly regarded the importance of bilateral relations with Iran as an important country and considered necessary to examine ways to strengthen economic cooperation and remove the obstacles.

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Indonesia, Iran banking coop. on rise

ظریف
News ID: 3926133 - Tue 7 March 2017 - 15:57
JAKARTA, Mar. 07 (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attached a great importance to Iran-Indonesia cooperation in all fields, including in oil and energy, as well as trade and banking relations.

Heading a delegation, Javad Zarif held a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the first summit of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held on Tuesday.

Iran's Foreign Minister conveyed warm greetings of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Mr. Widodo and appreciated Indonesia’s arrangements for the Summit of IORA.

Expressing satisfaction with the current cooperation level between Iran and Indonesia in all fields, Zarif pointed to the implementation of power generation projects by Iranian companies in Indonesia and said that bilateral cooperation is on the rise in all fields including in oil, energy, commerce, and banking.

Regional issues, the fight against terrorism and Iran's efforts to strengthen regional security and stability were among other topics discussed in the meeting.

Indonesia's president, for his part, underlined the boost in cooperation between the two countries in the fields of oil and energy, investments and funding for non-oil goods and stressed the need for the removal of banking obstacles.

LR/3925932

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Joint Iran-Europe Bank Planned
 
 
EconomyBusiness And Markets
Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Joint Iran-Europe Bank Planned

 

An Iranian-European bank will be established with three Iranian and four European members serving on the management board, said a senior banking director.

“International monetary institutions evaluated Iranian banks in terms of transparency and efficiency, and agreements have been reached to launch an Iranian-European bank in one of the EU countries with Iran and Europe holding 47% and 53% of the shares respectively,” Ahmad Haji-Mohammadi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

Sarmayeh Bank’s head of international affairs also said the bank will be established in Europe early next Iranian year (starting March 21) with the board comprising three Iranian members and four Europeans.

“Three directors had been introduced by the Iranian side, though they need to be approved by the central bank of the destination country,” he added.

Details related to the European bank, the city of operation and the assets involved have not been released yet.

The official noted that the Iranian side will offer its share once the bank starts operation and as for the reserve requirement , it will be provided by European partners for now and Iran will deposit the amount in future.

“Sarmayeh Bank had never been subjected to sanctions since it was not owned by the government, but the bank’s private shareholders had always enjoyed access to SWIFT system even in times of sanctions,” he said.

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According to a directive issued by the Cabinet, Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia has been authorized, on behalf of the government, to guarantee the repayment of the principal amount plus the interest of finance taken from foreign banks, export insurance firms and international development institutions, Banker.ir reported.

The guarantees will only be issued for projects that are in line with current regulations and approved by the government’s Economic Council.

The projects should be deemed eligible by the Planning and Budget Organization of Iran in the case of public projects while private projects should comply with Public Audit Law as well.

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he research arm of the Iranian Parliament has called on two organizations in charge of publishing economic data to work more closely and form a joint committee to curb actions that could erode public trust.  

Discrepancy in key economic indicators such as inflation rate and GDP figures in recent time had created confusion, prompting the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to urge officials to be accurate and forthright with their data.

In its latest statement, Majlis Research Center noted that the Central Bank of Iran and the Statistical Center of Iran are responsible for drafting and releasing statistics pertaining to national accounts, IBENA reported.

The statement notes that these statistics are extremely important, as they shape the opinion of businesses, policymakers and the public, adding that the manner in which they are published "has always been one of the challenges facing policymaking in the country" as they are not always available and have been at odds with each other on many occasions.

"In 2012-13 and 2013-14 when economic growth was negative, neither CBI nor SCI released any GDP data," it said, noting that it was only with the start of the tenure of President Hassan Rouhani in mid-2013 that growth figures for these two years were disclosed.

MRC takes issue with the "intermittent" way of publishing data by these two bodies, referring to 2014-15 when CBI published economic growth statistics while SCI remained silent and in 2015-16 when the situation was reversed with CBI remaining inert while SCI came up with figures.

As to the current fiscal year (ending March 20), MRC states that although CBI published GDP data for the first half of the year ending September 21, no entity provided details other than announcing that a 7.4% GDP growth has been achieved . This is "totally against professional principles and accepted international statistical norm", especially since CBI had not published the growth rate for the previous fiscal year.

Furthermore, the central bank proceeded to announce a figure for this year only after the president gave a figure in one of his speeches, which could "set a bad precedent for statistical releases in future", as it creates the possibility of statistical bodies deferring their tasks to elected officials, which can erode public trust.

Common Base Year

The research body advised CBI and SCI to use a common base year for their data and preferably choose the base year currently used by CBI, the Iranian year of 1383 (2004-5), as opposed to the more distant year of 1376 (1997-8) employed by SCI.

According to MRC, it is necessary for the two entities to work more closely and consistently with each other to figure why their numbers do not match.

To do so, "forming a permanent joint committee for the two entities, comprising of their representatives and experts, can prove to be helpful", it added.

In mid-February, CBI's deputy for economic affairs, Peyman Qorbani, announced that "CBI will shift the base year from 2004-05 to 2011-12 for calculating Iran’s economic growth in the third quarter of the current fiscal year [ending March 20]".

The International Monetary Fund recommends updating the base year for calculating GDP at least once every five years.

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Following news that Iran's assets in Luxembourg have been frozen by a court, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday lawyers with the Central Bank of Iran are currently consulting Luxembourg lawyers "for us to be able to have access to the funds".

Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht- Ravanchi added that CBI's assets were in Europe when international sanctions were still in place and because of those sanctions Iran had no access to them, IRNA reported.

"This is not a new development and the asset freeze took place before negotiations for the nuclear accord began," Takht- Ravanchi told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on the potential implications of US actions against Iran.

Ardeshir Fereydouni, the head of CBI's Legal Department, reacted to the news announced by the New York Times on Monday and said US efforts to freeze $1.6 billion of Iranian assets in Luxemburg contravened international laws and treaties.

In comments published on CBI's website, Fereydouni said the bank's attorneys, in synch with the Presidential Office for International Law, have presented their defense arguments to recover those assets.   

As reported by the Times, a judge in Luxembourg has quietly put a freeze on assets worth $1.6 billion belonging to Iran’s central bank, quoting people familiar with the case.

The paper reports that this is one of increasing instances in which domestic civil lawsuits against foreign entities have raised numerous complications.

Diplomatic and security specialists told the paper that the litigation also has broader significance. The essence of the 2015 deal was that Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions so it could reintegrate into the world economy. This goal would be undermined if any Iranian-linked assets in places like Europe were to face the threats of seizure to pay off default judgments handed down by American courts.

Payam Mohseni, the Iran Project director at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, was quoted as saying that if the victims succeed in seizing the funds, it could be a step toward a new confrontation, strengthening the hands of those who oppose the deal.

"Already, some of the envisioned investments in Iran with western financing have materialized," he said.

“A ruling like this would make Iranian assets vulnerable in Europe which, for Iranians, would violate the spirit of the agreement if not its letter.”

The maneuvers in Luxembourg have attracted scant attention because the litigation is largely confidential. But according to the Times, a letter detailing the case is now circulating in Washington.  

Lawyers for the palintifs sent the letter on Thursday to the prime minister of Luxembourg, seeking his government’s assistance in opposing Iran’s effort to unfreeze its assets and sent copies of the letter to senior foreign policy officials in the White House.

Last year, the US Supreme Court said the Central Bank of Iran must turn over $2.1 billion in frozen assets held by Citibank to victims of the 1983 Marine Corps barracks bombing in Lebanon. The Obama administration backed the victims in that case, which Iran is now challenging in the International Court of Justice.

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The Philippines' state oil company, PNOC, as part of a group of international oil and gas companies known as Pergas Consortium, is planning to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Iran in collaboration with the National Iranian Oil Company, director for Iran operations at Pergas said on Tuesday.

"PNOC is in negotiations with the NIOC on constructing an LNG plant with annual output capacity of 6 million tons," Masoud Besharati was quoted as saying by ILNA.

Pergas Consortium is made up of 15 international oil and gas companies operating in the engineering, procurement and construction, including Norway's AGR, OiLSERV, oilfield services provider, the UK's ByrneLooby, an engineering consultancy, PNOC and Sharif University of Technology.

Highlighting Manila's sustained efforts to do away with coal-fueled power plants and replace the environmentally-unfriendly feedstock with cleaner energy sources, namely LNG, Besharati added that Philippine energy officials believe that Iran can provide their power plants with the much-needed LNG as it has the world's largest gas field -- South Pars Gas Field off the Persian Gulf.

On PNOC's interest in joint oil and gas ventures with Iran, the official said that the state company,  a former customer of crude oil from NIOC, is planning to play a more active role in Iran's upstream oil and liquefied gas ventures as the energy-rich country has long-term plans to increase hydrocarbon exports.

"PNOC is in negotiations with NIOC to resume crude imports," Besharati said, noting that there are plans to buy 130,000 barrels of oil per day, or nearly 4 million barrels per month, from the NIOC.

Reportedly, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation is constructing a refinery in the Philippines with a processing capacity of 400,000 barrels per day and the PNOC is eying Iranian oil supplies to meet part of the demand.

Regarding PNOC negotiations with other oil giants, Besharati said the company has already signed a contract with Russia's energy company Rosneft to import 4 million barrels of oil a month and talks are underway with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and NIOC to provide rest of the feedstock.

Referring to a memorandum of understanding signed between Pergas and the National Iranian South Oil Company in November to study two oilfields in the southern province of Khuzestan, he said Pergas should partner with an Iranian exploration and production company should it win the fields' development rights. About concerns that Tehran may be hit with new economic sanctions from the Trump administration, Besharati said the global economic environment is positive at the moment, yet the future is unpredictable.

"Even if sanctions snap back, Pergas will circumvent them as it is a flexible company with different investors all over the world, which can adapt themselves to new international conditions," he said, adding that the company had played a role in Iran's oil projects during the difficult sanctions era.

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India's oil minister says a final deal with Iran to develop the Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf is currently "in Iran's course".

The lifting of international sanctions against Tehran in January 2016 and the easing of financial and trade curbs gave a fresh lifeline to negotiations on developing the Farzad-B project. But the two sides have made little inroads in negotiations as Iran says India's proposal to develop the offshore field is not attractive enough.

"We have given it our proposal; now it's time to react. They have to answer," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Reuters at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas.

A consortium headed by ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of ONGC, discovered the field in the Farsi offshore block in 2008. However, the consortium could not obtain the permission to develop the field due to tighter international sanctions imposed on Iran due to nuclear program dispute.

As a gesture of goodwill, Iran has so far excluded Farzad-B from a list of several dozen oil and gas projects that it plans to put out to tender under a new model of contracts. But it could no longer be the case should the negotiations fail.

An oil official said in late November that Iran was keeping all its options open for tendering the Farzad-B Gas Field because negotiations with India over the coveted gas project had not produced anything of substance.

“We are in the last round of talks with India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation over the Farzad-B project and should the two sides fail to come to an agreement, the project will be put out to an international tender,” Mohammad Meshkinfam, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company, said, adding that ONGC's proposed master plan to develop the field "is not financially viable".

The National Iranian Oil Company is expected to announce its decision on India's proposal soon.

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Iran's northern regions straddling the Caspian Sea could emerge as new hotspots for petrochemical production, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Tuesday, signaling the government's intention to diversify and expand the key petrochem sector now largely concentrated in the south.

"Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan provinces have access to abundance of water, which makes them well-suited for petrochemical plants," Zanganeh said in a meeting in Gilan on Tuesday.

He opined that expanding petrochemical infrastructure in the north will create hundreds of new jobs and reinvigorate the region's economy.

Refining, petrochemical, and chemical industries  need huge quantities of water, which explains why the key industries have been vastly developed across Iran's southern regions off the Persian Gulf.

However, petrochemical and petroleum industries have failed to take off in the north as Iran has taken little if any meaningful measures to tap into its deposits of crude oil and natural gas in the Caspian region.

According to reports, construction of a major petrochemical plant started with much fanfare in Gilan during the government of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But the so-called "largest petrochemical complex in the north", which was to be commissioned in three years, has been plagued by financial and operational constraints.

In related news, Ali Mohammad Bosaqzadeh, director for production control at the National Petrochemical Company, said the production of petrochemicals and polymers in the past 11 months has exceeded 50 million tons.

"This is a record in petrochemical output. We expect exports to reach 20 million tons in the present fiscal year (ends March 20), 8% higher compared to outbound shipments in the previous fiscal."

Iran's annual petrochemical output capacity is around 60 million tons, but it is planned to more than double in five years.

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Eurasian Economic Union agrees to form free-trade zone with Iran 

Tue Mar 7, 2017 6:30PM
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Armenia's Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, Belarus' Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov, Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and Eurasian Economic Commission Board Chairman Tigran Sargsyan (L-R) pose for a group photograph ahead of a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Bishkek on March 7, 2017. (Photo by Russian Government Press Office/TASS)
Armenia's Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, Belarus' Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov, Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and Eurasian Economic Commission Board Chairman Tigran Sargsyan (L-R) pose for a group photograph ahead of a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Bishkek on March 7, 2017. (Photo by Russian Government Press Office/TASS)

The prime ministers of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) have signed a directive ordering preparations for a temporary agreement on forming a free-trade zone with Iran.

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council members held a meeting in the Kazakh capital of Bishkek on Tuesday with the presence of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.

In the Bishkek meeting, the prime ministers also discussed issues pertaining to the development of cooperation among EAEU members and making use of their capabilities to promote the union’s interaction with other countries.

Among other orders issued in Kyrgyzstan, the council attendees signed instructions to pave the way for the implementation of the integration community's digital agenda by 2025.

The EAEU is an international organization for regional economic integration. It has international legal personality and is established by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union.

The EAEU provides for the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor, pursues coordinated, harmonized and single policy in the sectors determined by the Treaty and international agreements within the Union.

Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation are the current member states of the union.

The union has been created to comprehensively upgrade, raise the competitiveness of and cooperation between the national economies, and to promote stable development in order to raise the living standards of the nations of the member states.

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