Two major US banks, J.P. Morgan and Citibank, have not committed themselves to cutting Iranian access to international financial markets, a cornerstone of the Trump administration's new sanctions on Iran, adding fuel to concerns among US officials about efforts by European countries and Iran's regional allies to skirt the new American sanctions ahead of a Nov. 4 implementation deadline.

Iran Press- JP Morgan and Citibank--top American financial institutions that sit on the board of the SWIFT financial network, which facilitates international banking transactions--declined Free Beacon inquiries into whether they intend to disconnect Iran from the network and comply with the Trump administration's sanctions.

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Both banks could play a pivotal role in ensuring SWIFT and its members obey the new sanctions, which target Iran's Central Bank and critical infrastructure networks.

J.P. Morgan, Citibank won't commit to cutting Iran access to markets

However, an ongoing standoff between European allies and the Trump administration over the implementation of the new sanctions threatens to force these US financial institutions to pick a side.

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Congressional efforts to ensure US banks and others disconnect Iran from SWIFT — formally called the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication — also have been met with muted reaction.

Senior US officials and leaders on the Hill have been pressuring global banks, including those in the United States, to choke Iran's global financial access, particularly via SWIFT, the leading provider of financial transactions and banking information worldwide.

It is worth noting in an exclusive interview with Iran Press on Saturday, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's permanent representative in international organisation in Vienna, emphasized that the French , Italian, Chinese, and European Union ambassadors in Vienna all support the JCPOA. He was speaking at the Imam Khomeini's holy shrine in south Tehran.

Kazem Gharibabadi the Iranian permanent representative in international organization in Vienna said, after the ministerial joint meeting in Vienna, I have consulted with all European and chinses ambassadors and the most important point was that all of them supported JCPOA.

He mentioned all Ambassadors have same view about unilateral withdrawing of USA from JCPOA as a contradict action with international law and as an illegally action. He said their government also will support JCPOA and have taken concrete masers to preserve JCPOA.

Meanwhile German Chancellor Angela Merkel is working behind the scenes to undermine US effort to impose financial restrictions on Iran. 

During briefings in Washington, German officials have indicated their goal: to ensure that Iran remains connected to the Swift system—formally called the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication—that facilitates global financial transactions.

By protecting Iran’s access to the Swift network, Germany hopes to preserve Europe’s ability to pay for Iranian oil, and receive payment for European exports to Iran, in contravention of U.S. sanctions. The Germans know that any campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot succeed if Iran remains connected to Swift.

Last month, in light of “U.S. sanctions which could target EU entities active in oil transactions with Iran,” the European Commission encouraged European Union members to explore the idea of sending direct payments to the Central Bank of Iran. Access to the Swift network makes this possible. If such a payment were transmitted, the U.S. could designate the European country’s central bank as a violator of sanctions, blocking its access to dollars. German leaders are betting the Treasury Department would not take the economic risk of doing so.

If a European central bank became a channel for payments to Iran, the risk is that other countries —China, Russia, and India in particular —would adopt a similar approach to evading U.S. sanctions. The Trump administration’s strategy would then surely unravel.

( The Washington Free Beacon contributed to this report )

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