Official: US’ fresh sanctions not to affect humanitarian trade with Switzerland

Tehran, Oct 10, IRNA – Chairman of Iran-Switzerland chamber of commerce referred to Switzerland's third drug consignment of its humanitarian financial channel to Iran, saying the US’ new sanctions against 18 Iranian banks will not affect humanitarian trade with Iran. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday imposed sanctions on 18 Iranian banks and financial institutes in a move to bring the Iranian people to their knees. Speaking to IRNA, Sharif Nezam Mafi said the agreement on taking advantage of humanitarian channel was made in a way that no sanction affect it and businessmen will have no problem for importing basic items like crops and drug. He added that the US’ new sanctions have so far had no impact theoretically and "we hope for them to have no influence in practice". US’ banking sanctions is considered as a propaganda campaign for those who are about to fail in presidential elections. Referring to the fact that due to previous sanctions and also FATF conditions, Iran had been disconnected from world banking system, Nezam Mafi said new sanctions are likely to bring about problems for private banks. He noted that Iran-Switzerland financial channel has been designed to foil sanctions on basic items. The Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) channel to bring food and medicine to Iran started trial operations in January, helping supply Swiss goods to the struggling population without tripping over US sanctions. Earlier, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnasser Hemmati blasted imposing sanctions on the Iranian banks, and said that some of the sanctioned banks were handling imports of food and medicine and worked with foreign banks which still have all the necessary waivers from the US government. "Although in the past months, we have been in dire need to provide medicine and food to the people due to the maximum pressure, so far we have not allowed any shortage to be felt in the country," he said. From now on, the central bank, along with the private sector, will make every effort to provide medicine and basic goods needs of the people and will not allow more pressure to be put on the people in this area, Hemmati said.