No rights for US to veto IMF’s actions

According To Iran News, The spokesperson of the Iranian government, in a Monday press conference, underlined that there is no right for the US to veto the measures and decisions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Addressing the US disagreement with Iran’s $5 billion emergency loan request from the IMF to help it cope with the coronavirus pandemic amid US illegal sanctions, Ali Rabiei noted that the US must understand that international institutions are not its properties and it is not has not the right to impede international bodies’ actions.

“Other Fund members of the fund will prevent the United States from committing inhumane acts,” he said, “I believe that the Fund will decide independently.”

“We have always paid our membership to the fund, and we have not had any requests from the fund in past years,” Rabiei added, “Iran has also the right to take advantage from being an IMF member.”

The spokesman admitted that for sure, the decision of the IMF about the issue will be a symbol for the other funds, established to protect human rights.

Despite US opposition to grant loan to Iran, International Monetary Fund (IMF) can provide Iran with the necessary assistance to combat the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, without confronting Trump’s administration, according to an article.

To get Iran the assistance it needs, the IMF can take steps to address the Trump administration’s concerns.

According to an article by Bloomberg, the Fund can account for the unease of US regulators by excluding dollars. Iran could even agree to accept the loan in euros alone, given that the EU is its primary supplier of medical goods.

Second, the loan could be paid into an account maintained in Europe by the Central Bank of Iran. This would mean that the funds are spent within the European financial system, the article adds.

In this scenario, IMF would reallocate some portion of Iran’s 1.55 billion in SDR holdings (valued at approximately $2.1 billion) to the buyer, which would then make a payment to Iran in a foreign currency, such as euros, to an account maintained by Iran’s central bank outside the country.

The article maintains that such a transaction would not require approval from the IMF board of governors.

In an Instagram post in mid-March, 2020, CBI governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said he had written to the IMF’s head, Kristalina Georgieva, to stress Iran’s “right to benefit from the fund’s $50-billion Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI),” to help it cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

The request, however, was opposed by the US.