Austria's Die Presse alleged in a report that Oberbank, one of the first Western banks to sign a deal to provide finance to Iranian projects, has put projects “on hold” due to the uncertainties surrounding the Iran nuclear deal.
Oberbank, Austria’s seventh-largest bank, despite its regional focus and limited exposure to the US financial system, signed an agreement to extend a 1 billion euro line of credit to Iran in September 2017. The deal was announced amid much fanfare as political uncertainty increased around the expectation that President Donald Trump would “decertify” the nuclear deal later that October—a step the American president did subsequently take.
The finance deal, which was signed with the express support of Iran’s central bank as well as the Austrian government, was intended to support capital-intensive infrastructure and energy projects led by Austrian companies and was earmarked for projects of over two years in duration. While Oberbank has long provided trade finance in areas that are exempt from sanctions, such as food and pharmaceuticals, the provision of project finance was considered a significant boost to Iran’s engagement with the European financial system. Denmark’s Danske Bank signed a similar agreement shortly after Austria's Oberbank.
Stefan Scholz said in an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in Vienna: "I can assure you that there has been no policy change on the Austrian side regarding working together with Iran to the benefit of JCPOA implementation".
Scholz added: "Let me be clear, there is no reason to be overly pessimistic: from the mountain of MoUs, there are several pan-European high profile projects that have entered implementation phase or are close to it".
