TEHRAN (Dispatches) – A humanitarian aid channel allowing Swiss-based companies to send medicines and other vital goods to Iran despite U.S. sanctions has become operational.

According To Iran News,

On Monday, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) confirmed to Reuters that the first transaction had been completed. The channel, known as the “Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement” (SHTA), was facilitated by Swiss “good offices” between the U.S. and Iran. It comes amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Iran particularly hard, and as Switzerland and Tehran mark 100 years of diplomatic ties. Food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies are exempt from U.S. sanctions.

“We would like to emphasize that the operationalization of the SHTA is progressing and that a number of companies have already been approved, more companies will follow. Further transactions should be carried out shortly,” SECO told Reuters by email.

SECO did not identify the Swiss drugmaker or give a value for the shipment, which it said involved a cancer drug used to treat iron overload caused by repeated blood transfusions.

Trial operations of the channel began in January, during which Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis supplied Iran with €2.3 million (CHF2.4 million) worth of cancer drugs and medicines needed for organ transplants. The channel has not taken off; Swiss officials blame delays on Covid-19.

Food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies are exempt from the sanctions that Washington reimposed on Tehran after President Donald Trump walked away from a 2015 international deal over Iran’s nuclear program.

But the U.S. measures targeting everything from oil sales to shipping and financial activities have deterred several foreign banks from doing business with the Islamic Republic – including humanitarian deals.

Meanwhile Chairman of the Board of the Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce Mr. Sharif Nezam-Mafi in an interview with ILNA confirmed the report, saying that this deal was just for medicines for cancer or blood patients.

He added that so far there is no more detail of the shipment yet but he knows that the medicines have been shipped from Swiss-based companies.

Nezam-Mafi reiterated that nature of this transaction with the previous one which happened almost six months ago is not different.

He noted that this is a good signal for trade in the framework of this mechanism and it indicates the transfer of money by Iran’s Central Bank for this deal.

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IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

TEHRAN – Iran’s Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati on Sunday said exporters who have not transferred their foreign currency earnings to the government FOREX system will be summoned for explanations.

In a note about the reasons for the drastic devaluation of the national currency, Hemmati said that the deadline for declaring foreign currencies received from exports was two weeks ago and cannot be extended. Hemmati threatened exporters with summons, in cooperation with the country’s Judiciary.

On Sunday Mohsen Zanganeh, a lawmaker and member of the Parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee, said exporters had kept $20 billion earned from exports outside the country. According to Zanganeh, exporters say they need the government to give them certain guarantees before they transfer the currencies back to Iran.

Exporters keep their money in foreign banks rather than transferring it back to the country because of lack of confidence due to Iran’s economic crisis and the huge devaluation of its currency.

The regulations introduced by the government require exporters to transfer the foreign currencies they receive from their customers to the newly introduced government FOREX system knows as Unified FOREX Transactions System (NIMA) where it would be used to meet the foreign currency needs of importers.

The government said the purpose of the new policy was to direct imports into legal channels, ensure sufficient and fair amount of foreign currencies to importers on a priority basis (essential commodities first) as well as prevention of hard currency smuggling and money laundering.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

He added that currently the country trades with Russia and Turkey with rouble and lira, adding that several countries are interested in trade in national currencies which secure them from the U.S. supervision and threats.

He added that currently the trade with Russia is fully in national currencies and trade with Turkey is in national currencies but almost 40% of the trade with Turkey is still in euro.

He also pointed to the recent U.S. sanctions on the Central Bank and called it a propagation act, but admitted that sanctions have created problems for banking transactions but the country has found other ways to continue money transfer.

Hemmati said that the country is not after skirting the sanctions but it is currently trading without sanctions.

He once again reiterated that if the U.S. slaps sanctions on the Central Bank four more times, it would be in vain.

He said since the imposition of the first sanctions, the Central Bank had taken precautionary measures to alleviate the impacts of sanctions.

He also noted that peace and stability dominating the forex market and refuted some allegations that the current that is clam before storm.

He rejected some claims that the Central Bank has restricted imports, adding that while the country is in an economic war condition it cannot let the forex be spent for imports of luxurious commodities.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

He added that one can say banks are the axis of development in the country, adding that when they talk about problems of the banks, their significant services should not been forgotten.

Hemmati stated that some Malis lawmakers are working on a bill to solve economic fluctuations and they want to find way for solving problems of those who have failed to repay their debts to the banks due to the economic turmoil.

Hemmati said that most of them are unhappy with the way banks calculate the interest for the loans and fines for delay in repayment.

He said if the bill is approved in the economic commission of Majlis and in Majlis, the central bank will not oppose it and there will be no problem in its implementation.

He admitted that due to pressures from sanctions, huge liquidity and banking defaults, banks are struggling and one cannot deny problems but services of the banks to the national economy should not been also ignored.

Hemmati also set condition for the proposed bill, adding that it should be approved in Majlis and approval in the economic commission of Majlis is not enough by itself.

He went on to say by the approval of the bill, problems of over 29 million people who have received bank loans will be solved.

Hemmati added that since this year has been named “Year of Boost in Production”, the central bank welcomes the bill and it believes it can help production and it can push all financial and banking resources towards production.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

He went on to say that the U.S. and its allies were after crippling Iran’s economy , adding that the CBI will not let any rise happen in the forex price and it currently witnesses strengthening the value of the national currency.

Hemmati reiterated that the U.S. was after destroying Iran’s national currency and it used to talk about dollar to be traded at 40,000 to 50,000 tomans but it failed to materialize its goal.

He noted that Iran’s power in confronting economic sanctions of enemies has now become vivid to the world and sanctions do not have any impact any longer.

He also added that at this stage, the CBI cannot eliminate forex with official rate of 4200 tomans per dollar and it is necessary for essential commodities.

The rial on the open market is now close to the Nima rate, Hemmati said.

Hemmati said that Tehran is serious to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), adding that the government will fund SMEs with more than $2.4 billion by March 2020.

“The amount of credit paid to the manufacturing sector would increase this year while up to 300 trillion rials worth of credit would be earmarked to the SMEs,” he added.

According to reports, each dollar was traded for 12,350 tomans. The dollar rate has nose-dived in recent weeks and there is no sign of attraction among people to rush to the forex market for investing on forex or gold.

Rial has strengthened about 8% in the open market over the past month to 125,350 per dollar.

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