Free Republic

A DEFIANT Iran announced it has begun pulling its foreign currency accounts out of European banks to protect its assets from possible UN sanctions over its nuclear program. As analysts estimated the amount of those funds at up to $50 billion, Iran also called for a reduction in OPEC oil production - raising the possibility that the country would use oil in its stand-off with the West. Iran pumps about four million barrels of oil a day, making it the second largest producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia. Underlining his challenging stance, Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, held a meeting...

Confusion over Iran 'assets move' Iran has broken the seals on three nuclear facilities There is confusion over whether Iran is moving foreign exchange reserves from Europe to avoid possible sanctions, after conflicting remarks by officials. The deputy head of Iran's central bank has said that Iran has no plans at the moment to shift its money. But Iranian news agencies reported on Friday that the bank head had said the state had started to withdraw assets, amid a row over its nuclear programme. Iran denies US and European claims that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons. The UN's...

TEHRAN, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Iran has reportedly begun moving its assets from European banks in an effort to protect its supplies of foreign exchange from sanctions. "We transfer foreign currency reserves related to all sectors including oil foreign exchanges to wherever it is good for us and we have started this transfer," Ebrahim Sheibani, governor of Iran's central bank, told the Iranian Student News Agency. The International Atomic Energy Authority has scheduled a meeting Feb. 2 to discuss whether to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council. The country could face sanctions for re-starting its uranium enrichment program.

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Amid the threat of possible U.N. economic sanctions, Iran announced Friday it is transferring its foreign exchange accounts out of U.S. and European banks, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Ibrahim Sheibani, the head of Iran's Central Bank, said the Islamic state will transfer all of its foreign accounts related to its oil income to Southeast Asian banks, according to the conservative news agency.

The governor of Iran's central bank has confirmed that the country has started to transfer assets held in foreign accounts. Ebrahim Sheibani told the ISNA students' news agency on Friday: "We transfer foreign reserves to wherever we see as expedient. On this issue, we have started transferring. We are doing that." ISNA specifically asked whether the money was being moved to Asian accounts but Sheibani's answer sidestepped the issue. Sheibani told reporters earlier this week that Iran stood ready to repatriate the money it held abroad should this prove necessary. Iran, which could face UN economic sanctions over its atomic...

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