US sanctions Romanian bank over trading with Iran, Syria

A report by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US Treasury Department said that the Romanian First Bank has been fined $862,318.

According to the OFAC report, First Bank processed 98 transactions totaling $3.5 million through US banks on behalf of individuals and entities located in Iran and Syria.

In violation of the Iran nuclear deal known as the JCPOA, the previous United States administration sanctioned Iran while it had not withdrawn from the deal in May 2018.

The new OFAC report said that the Treasury Department fined the Romanian banks for transactions before the US JCPOA exit in 2016 when the JCPOA had been signed and the US secondary sanctions were supposed to be lifted after the implementation of the deal.

"During the period of March 2016 to December 2018, First Bank processed 34 outgoing payments through US banks in which the end user of the transaction was located in Iran. The payments were made on behalf of Iranian customers of First Bank," the report by OFAC says.

The current US administration of Joe Biden is continuing the illegitimate sanctions within the framework of the Trump-era Maximum Pressure Campaign against the Iranian nation despite earlier promises to lift the sanctions and undo Donald Trump's anti-Iran actions.

KI/IRINN/PR