UK Financial Move Against Iran, A Political, Propagandistic Ploy - Expert

London, Nov 28, IRNA – The UK's last week severance of all its financial relations with Iran is aimed at dissuading Iran from going on with its peaceful nuclear activities. British Finance Minister, George Osborne, said his country had taken up the decision on fresh concerns of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over Iran’s nuclear activities. Osborne claimed that Iran’s nuclear activities posed a serious threat to British national interests and those of the regional states. Soon after release of Osborne’s speech, British media claimed that the British government had made the decision in coordination with the US. Majority of experts believe that such a stance by the British government is politically motivated and is propagandist in nature, taken under pressure of the US administration and Zionist lobbies. They say British statesmen themselves are confident that such moves will not have any impact on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s will but will on the contrary strengthen the country’s resolve. Moreover, the economic consequences and aftershocks of such policies would be more harmful to British economic and commercial enterprises than the Islamic Republic of Iran, leading to their further distance from Iranian markets and distorting London's image as an important financial hub worldwide. Daily Telegraph commenting on the issue wrote the UK had imposed fresh sanctions against Iran in coordination with the US and Canada,, while London is viewed as the the biggest financial center worldwide. The daily quoted the British finance minister as claiming that his country would sever all its relations with Iran’s financial and banking system. The newspaper wrote that China has turned into a key partner of Iran over recent years due to western countries' ban on trade with Iran. It further noted that another Iran ally, Russia, along with China has blocked any possibility of having sanctions approved by the UN Security Council, labeling the West's anti-Iran move as unacceptable and contrary to international regulations. Meanwhile, Governor of the London-based Persia International Bank, Mohammad-Reza Mesgarian, believes that Britain's new sanctions would not have much impact on Iran’s banking and commercial activities because Iranian banks in London have already been facing many restrictions and sanctions for the past few years and such a decision will change nothing for them. Mesgarian told IRNA that even Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which came under UK sanctions for the first time last week, had no special relations with British banks. In other words, Iran has not had too extensive financial and banking relations with the UK over the past few years to be affected by such a decision. He opined that the reality is that such a move is mainly political and propagandist in nature aiming to persuade other countries to follow suit. Such a decision might have minor impact on private banks or certain state-run banks, which have not been subjected to the sanctions. A London-based analyst, who is closely watching Iran-UK economic ties, told IRNA that over the past two years, economic ties between the two states have had a downward trend. Moreover, he added, the Iranian Customs Administration has over recent years reciprocated the UK sanctions by restricting imports from the country. The economic expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said over the past years Iran’s imports from the UK has decreased drastically./end