16 US Republican Senators Call for Iran to Be Expelled from SWIFT
On Thursday, September 16, 16 Republican US senators called on the Treasury Department to take "all necessary steps" to remove Iran from the SWIFT financial system.
The financial system known as SWIFT monitors all international bank transfers.
The senators, led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin that “swift and comprehensive action is critical to the success of the administration’s maximum pressure strategy, both to limit the regime’s resources for its destructive behavior and to signal America’s commitment to maintaining the integrity of our sanctions architecture.”
They added that the maximum pressure campaign will not be successful as long as the Islamic Republic of Iran remains connected to SWIFT.
SWIFT is an acronym for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, headquartered in Belgium, but its board of directors, which includes executives from American banks and federal agencies, allows Washington to take action against the Central Bank of Iran and banks accused of links to terrorism and money laundering.
On May 8 of this year, US President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the six world powers' nuclear deal with Iran and in mid-August, he reimposed the first round of Washington's suspended sanctions against Tehran.
The second round of sanctions, which will be broader than the first phase, is scheduled to take effect on November 4.
The letter from 16 US senators is being published shortly after the European Union presented its first financial support package to Iran, worth $21 million.
The package was presented a day after German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote in an article in a German business newspaper that if the EU wants to save the JCPOA, it needs a "payment system independent of the US."
The German Foreign Minister added that every day that the nuclear agreement with Iran remains in force is better than an explosive crisis that could threaten the Middle East.
Germany, along with Britain, Russia, China, France, and the European Union, continue to support the nuclear agreement with Iran, criticizing the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, and are seeking solutions to continue economic relations with Tehran, despite possible US sanctions.
Source: Radio Farda
