InfoAnda - Exclusive: Iran looks to Armenia to skirt bank sanctions |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

The IHeartRadio Music Festival announced | 12 July 2011
Court narrows reach of computer fraud law | | 11 April 2012
US-TECH Summary | 2 October 2010

Challenges face Aquino son in bid for presidency | 10 September 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Exclusive: Iran looks to Armenia to skirt bank sanctions |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Aerospace & Defense Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Campaign Polling Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Pictures Editor's choice Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Slideshow Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Dental health linked to dementia risk: study 20 Aug 2012 Ethiopian strongman Meles dies abroad 3:35am EDT Romney battles Obama for cash advantage in election | 12:30am EDT Nearly half of US doctors struggle with burnout: study 2:12am EDT U.S. Army battling racists within its own ranks 1:01am EDT Discussed 138 Obama’s lead over Romney grows despite voters’ pessimism 122 Romney to announce vice presidential choice Saturday 94 Analysis: Are Israelis tough enough for a long war with Iran? Sponsored Links Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Seeing double A look at the world of twins. Slideshow Suicides in China A look at attempted suicides in China and their aftermath. Slideshow Exclusive: Iran looks to Armenia to skirt bank sanctions Tweet Share this Email Print Related News U.N. names Algerian diplomat as Syria envoy; refugee crisis dire Fri, Aug 17 2012 Exclusive: White House studying potential oil reserve release Fri, Aug 17 2012 UPDATE 4-US faces stiff opposition to emergency oil release plans Fri, Aug 17 2012 Israel's Peres against any solo Iran attack, trusts Obama Thu, Aug 16 2012 Standard Chartered eyes joint deal after backing down in U.S. Wed, Aug 15 2012 Analysis & Opinion Risk spills over in Middle East Suddenly, quantitative easing for the people seems possible Related Topics World » China » United Nations » Turkey » Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan (C) walks with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) during an official welcoming ceremony in Yerevan December 23, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Tigran Mehrabyan/PanARMENIAN Photo/Handout By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS | Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:12am EDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - With international sanctions squeezing Iran, the Islamic Republic is seeking to expand its banking foothold in the Caucasus nation of Armenia to make up for difficulties in countries it used to rely on to do business, according to diplomats and documents. Iran's growing interest in its neighbor Armenia, a mountainous, landlocked country of about 3.3 million people, comes at a time of rising international isolation for Tehran and increasing scrutiny by Western governments and intelligence agencies of Iranian banking ties worldwide as they attempt to stifle the country's nuclear program. The most recent example is British bank Standard Chartered, which has been in the spotlight due to U.S. charges that it hid from U.S. regulators and shareholders some $250 billion of transactions tied to Iran. An expanded local-currency foothold in a neighbor like Armenia, a former Soviet republic which has close trade ties to Iran and is working hard to forge closer links to the European Union, could make it easier for Tehran to obfuscate payments to and from foreign clients and deceive Western intelligence agencies trying to prevent it from expanding its nuclear and missile programs. Armenian officials denied illicit banking links to Iran. While the four rounds of U.N. sanctions remain limited, with only two Iran banks blacklisted by the Security Council, the United States and European Union have implemented much tougher restrictions, sanctioning dozens of banks and other firms and making it increasingly difficult for Tehran to conduct business in U.S. dollars and euros. A U.N. panel of experts that monitors compliance with the sanctions against Tehran recently submitted a report to the U.N. Security Council's Iran sanctions committee that concluded Iran was constantly searching for ways to skirt restrictions on its banking sector. "One state bordering Iran informed the Panel of requests from Iran to open new financial institutions," the report said. "The requests were not pursued apparently because of that country's burdensome legislation." Several U.N. diplomats familiar with the panel's work confirmed that the unnamed state was Armenia, where Iran already has banking ties. Despite Armenia's denials of illegal banking arrangements, Iran has not given up trying to expand in the country, the diplomats said, and U.S. officials have repeatedly cautioned Armenian colleagues to tighten financial controls. REPORTS AND DENIALS Iran's trade with Armenia, including an oil pipeline that Armenian news reports say should be finished in 2014, requires some form of cross-border banking. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Iran's annual trade with Armenia is around $1 billion, according to Iranian news reports. Engaging in transactions with Iranian banks is not a violation of international sanctions as long as it is not linked to Iran's nuclear or missile programs or companies or individuals under U.S., EU or U.N. sanctions. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and refuses to shut it down. It says the sanctions are illegal. But Washington has made clear to governments around the world that trading with Iranian firms that are sanctioned by the United States could lead to a U.S. blacklisting. A Western intelligence report shown to Reuters, and dated May 2012, said that Iran was searching for "convenient" locations to develop alternative banking relationships away from spy agencies and other international monitoring bodies. It said an expanded presence in Armenia was one of Iran's goals. "The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has been operating for years to establish and develop concealed infrastructures to enable Iran to continue trading with foreign countries, particularly in countries convenient for Iranian activity, such as the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Turkey," the report said. "The increasing pressure on the banks in some of these countries has forced CBI economists to seek financial alternatives in countries that do not work according to the dictates of the West," it said, naming Armenia as a target. In addition to Turkey and UAE, diplomats say Iran has been trying to develop financial channels elsewhere to avoid sanctions, focusing on countries like Malaysia, China, India, Brazil and, according to a report in the New York Times last weekend, Iraq. Iran has used Iraqi banks to move large amounts of cash into the international banking system, prompting private U.S. protests to Baghdad, the Times reported. Regarding Armenia, the Western intelligence report cited Armenian bank ACBA Credit Agricole Bank, a full-service institution that does business with individuals and companies and had some $574 million in assets last year, as one of Iran's principal targets. A Western U.N. diplomat who closely follows the sanctions on Tehran confirmed that ACBA was "a bank that has come up in connection with Iran." He declined to provide details of any potentially illicit ACBA transactions linked to Iran. Ashot Osipyan, chairman of the Union of Armenia's Banks, said it was impossible ACBA had any ties with Iran. "Armenian banks are financing only Armenia's economy," he said. ACBA Chief Executive Officer Stepan Gishian was similarly categorical in his denial of helping Iran skirt sanctions. "We finance exclusively the economy of Armenia," he said. "We don't have any relationship with Iran. We never have, we don't now and furthermore we don't plan on becoming a channel for financing Iran. What you're saying is complete nonsense." Washington recently raised its concerns with Armenian officials about the possibility that Iran could exploit Armenia to bypass sanctions. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the issue with President Serzh Sargsyan during a June meeting in Yerevan, a senior State Department official said. The precise content of the discussions and the outcome were unclear. CLAMP DOWN Diplomats and intelligence officials told Reuters that Turkey and the UAE remain Iran's principal banking connections, while China and India are becoming areas of concern as Tehran now finds it difficult to conduct transactions in U.S. dollars and euros. As a result, it has turned increasingly to doing business in less-traceable local currencies. But Turkey and the UAE, they say, are not as welcoming these days. The two countries are under intense pressure from Washington and the European Union to clamp down on illicit Iranian commerce connected to a nuclear program that the Western powers and their allies suspect is for producing weapons - a charge Iran denies. Another bank that has long concerned Western powers is the Armenian branch of Iran's Bank Mellat, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2007. While Mellat is not under U.N. sanctions, the Security Council cited it as a problematic bank in the text of its fourth sanctions resolution, passed in June 2010. "Over the last seven years, Bank Mellat has facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions for Iranian nuclear, missile, and defense entities," the resolution said. Mellat is still functioning in Yerevan, though its activities have drastically decreased due to U.S. and EU sanctions, according to Arakel Meliksetyan, deputy head of the financial intelligence unit at Armenia's central bank. Meliksetyan, citing the bank's annual published reports, said its Armenian assets decreased more than 50 percent from December 31, 2010 to July 1, 2012. Mellat is cut off from the U.S., European and other financial markets and has virtually no business with other Armenian banks, Meliksetyan said. Since it was disconnected from the SWIFT system earlier this year, Mellat Armenia is no longer able to send or receive international wire transfers, he added. He said the bank's small customers were mainly Iranians doing business in Armenia, Armenians exporting to Iran, Iranians with Armenian backgrounds and students. The Mellat Armenian branch's website (www.mellatbank.am) has photos of a brightly lit, ordinary-looking bank with the words "Accuracy, Courtesy, Efficiency" at the top. It lists two men with Iranian names as the general manager and deputy general manager and gives a P.O. box for an address. Reuters contacted the bank for responses to questions about its activities. After initially agreeing to a face-to-face discussion, the officials said they wanted written questions and have not provided further comment. Turkey was in a similar position to Armenia's once. Reuters reported in 2010 that Turkey was becoming a safe haven for Iranian banks. In response to heavy U.S. pressure to cut banking ties with Tehran, Western envoys say, Turkish banks have become much more cautious about doing business with Iranian clients. U.S. concerns about Armenia's commitment to implementing sanctions against Iranian banks are not new, according to previously secret U.S. diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks. A May 2007 cable from the U.S. embassy in Yerevan, entitled "Armenia Slow To Implement Bank Sepah Asset Freeze," said that Sepah, an Iranian bank which has been under U.N. sanctions since March 2007, maintained correspondent accounts with the Armenian branch of Mellat in breach of U.N. restrictions. Another cable from 2008 made clear Washington was still worried: "Poloff (Political Office) requested that the Armenian MFA (ministry of foreign affairs) advise the Central Bank of Armenia to employ extra vigilance in monitoring the financial transaction of the Iranian owned Bank Mellat in Yerevan." (Additional reporting by Thomas Grove, Steve Gutterman and Nastassia Astrasheuskaya in Moscow, Andrew Quinn in Washington, Hasmik Mkrtchyan in Yerevan and Andrei Makhovsky in Minsk. Editing by Warren Strobel and Jim Loney) World China United Nations Turkey Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Analysis: Afghanistan's peace hopes may rest on Taliban captive |
Obama deeply concerned over Afghan insider attacks |
Car bomb kills eight near Turkey's border with Syria |
Court seen reinstating Romanian president in referendum ruling |
Malta's former prime minster Dom Mintoff dies at 96 |
Seven arrested over attack on East Jerusalem Arab |
U.S. seizes $150 million from Lebanese bank in laundering scheme |
Britain's best bet to handle Assange: sit and wait |
Apple becomes most valuable company of all time |
Google list of paid bloggers not sufficient, judge says |
Judge rejects Facebook settlement over ad feature |
Shoparoo app helps raise money for schools |
Pioneering comedian Phyllis Diller dies at age 95 |
Rihanna admits she still loves Chris Brown |
Fox promotes broadcast TV executive Kevin Reilly |
Rosie O'Donnell says lucky to be here after heart attack |
Happily Divorced actress Tichina Arnold is wed |
Top U.S. general's aircraft damaged by rockets in Afghanistan |
Ethiopian strongman Meles dies abroad |
Exclusive: Iran looks to Armenia to skirt bank sanctions |
Obama warns Assad U.S. could act |
Analysis: Afghanistan's peace hopes may rest on Taliban captive |
Kurdish militant group says not behind Turkey bomb |
Iran unveils new missile, other weapons |
Gunfire outside Yemeni intelligence HQ in Aden |
Lonmin says sacking striking miners could lead to more violence |
Japan hints at economic action in South Korea island feud |
Samsung to invest $4 billion in U.S. plant to make more mobile chips |
Apple's market value exceeds Microsoft's during 1999 bubble |
Apple, Samsung CEOs talk but no trial settlement reached |
Facebook director Thiel sold 20 million shares after lockup |
Ailing startup OnLive slashes staff, seeks more funding |
Clues sought in suicide of film director Tony Scott |
Pioneering comedian Phyllis Diller dies at age 95 |
Michael J. Fox to star in TV comedy as dad with Parkinson's |
San Francisco flower power singer Scott McKenzie dead at 73 |
Fox studio to distribute Dreamworks Animation films |
Iran unveils new missile, starts air defense site |
Four dead in Lebanon clashes that echo Syria conflict |
U.S., Japan follow EU, slam Argentine protectionism at WTO |
Assange asylum seen as travesty of justice in Sweden |
Ukraine stays extradition of Putin murder plot suspect |
Three religions meet in suburban Paris prayer space |
Hackers target website of Russian court that jailed Pussy Riot |
Infosys rises after whistleblower lawsuit dismissed |
India cracks down on Internet after communal violence |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01