First Swiss deal proved Iran funds got round US sanctions: Businessman

An Iranian businessman says a first deal with Iran under the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) was a sign that funds provided by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) had reached Swiss authorities despite US sanctions limiting any use of such finances.  

Sharif Nezam-Mafi, who chairs the Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce, said on Monday that Swiss authorities had managed to use CBI funds for the first time under a first SHTA deal announced earlier in the day.

“The operationalization of this channel is a good sign as it shows that the CBI money has been injected into this financial channel,” said Nezam-Mafi.

The comments came hours after Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) issued a statement saying a first deal involving drug shipment to Iran had been successfully carried out under SHTA.

The statement came amid growing criticism that the SHTA had failed to process any meaningful transaction to help Iran receive desperately needed medicine and other humanitarian items amid a coronavirus pandemic that has led to thousands of deaths in the country.  

Nezam-Mafi said the first official shipment under SHTA had involved cancer drugs related to patients using blood transfusion.

He said at least 50 high-grade companies based in Switzerland are now in line to use the SHTA to get involved in deals on food and medicine with Iran.

“That shows that Swiss companies are well aware that sanctions against Iran are temporary,” he said in an interview with the news service of Iran's chamber of commerce (ICCIMA). 

A first pilot deal under SHTA in January, processed by Geneva-based bank BCP, allowed Iran to take delivery of 2.3 million euros ($2.7 million) worth of drugs required for organ transplants bought from Swiss drugmaker Novartis.  

MG