WANA (May 12) – According to Iran’s former Minister of Economy, the UAE has utilized Iranian companies and exchange houses, as well as Bank Melli and Bank Saderat, to centralize Iran’s financial information and exploit it in favor of the United States.

 

Last night, former Iranian Minister of Economy Seyed Ehsan Khandouzi stated in a television interview that the UAE’s role was to become a focal point for Iran’s financial and trade information by “encouraging shell companies, Iranian exchange houses, and even two banks, Melli and Saderat.”

 

According to available information, Bank Melli Iran currently has 7 active branches and Bank Saderat has 8 active branches in the UAE. A few days ago, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an interview with Fox News, revealed that Persian Gulf countries have generously provided detailed financial information to the United States and allowed the U.S. to freeze Iranian assets.

 

This is not the first time the UAE has exploited the opportunity of Iran’s financial presence in that country to pressure Iran.

 

According to Khandouzi, one or two years ago, an Iranian banking official in the field of currency settlement was arrested and “imprisoned for several months.”

 

According to Khandouzi, in 2019, they also arrested Iranian Dirham exchange dealers in one night, and in 2018, one month after Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, they severely restricted two of Iran’s Dirham accounts to “apply currency pressure on Iran.”

 

The concentration of Iran’s finance and trade in the UAE has posed many risks for Iran. Despite the fact that 90% of Iran’s imports from the UAE relate to other countries and only involve a change of documents in the UAE, 50% of Iran’s trade settlement is nevertheless carried out in this country.

 

Hamid Ghanbari, Deputy for Economic Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the reason for the high dependency on the UAE was that Dubai has been a major port and financial center in that country, and Iranian banks like Bank Melli had branches there before other banks arrived in the UAE.

 

However, the former head of the Trade Promotion Organization, Alireza Peyman-Pak, says this dependency was created for two reasons:

  • First, traders were accustomed to this route.

 

  • Second, due to the multi-tier exchange rates in Iran, some traders profited by changing the origin of imports and receiving more currency; for this reason, they were unwilling to let go of this route.

 

According to expert assessments, Iran can currently reduce its logistical dependency on the UAE by using alternative corridors such as northern routes, the Turkey route, and the Chinese rail route.

 

For the currency issue, it can reduce dependency by connecting to China’s payment network, using the capacity of countries like Oman and Turkey (which have less dependency on the U.S.) to change the origin of goods and make direct purchases, and by utilizing barter methods.