Noor Islamic Has Ended Ties With Iran

Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank has ended all business relations with Iranian banks licensed in the UAE, a spokesperson from the bank said on Wednesday. The clarification followed a report by The Wall Street Journal, which claimed that the US Treasury had disrupted operations at the bank because of its dealings with Iran. The bank was Iran’s ‘largest channel for repatriating foreign-currency oil receipts,’ WSJ said.

“As a UAE bank we comply with all UAE Central Bank and UAE government directives and international regulations, including those emanating from the UN, regarding sanctions on Iran,” the Noor spokesperson said.

“When we became aware, in December 2011, that unilateral US sanctions were to be applied against a number of Iranian banks we took pre-emptive action to end our business relationships with Iranian banks licensed in the UAE.”

The UN and the US have imposed several economic sanctions on Iran recently, claiming that the Middle Eastern nation is developing nuclear weapons.

Earlier this month, the UAE’s central Bank had also reportedly instructed banks in the country to stop finance trade with Iran.

Currently, no other banks in Dubai have been targeted by the US, an official from the UAE Ministry for Economic Affairs told Reuters today.

“Of course, as the UAE government, we will comply with the UN resolutions,” Khalid al-Ghaith, the assistant minister for economic affairs, told Reuters. He also said officials were speaking with the US to mitigate any “possible harm to the UAE banking system or companies,” said the report.