President Rouhani: IMF must fulfill its duties without bias against Iran

Rouhani made the remarks in a phone conversation with Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnasser Hemmati on Thursday, during which the CBI official briefed the president on the measures taken to secure a requested loan from the world body.

“Under these tough circumstances, the IMF should perform its duty with regard to its international commitments and avoid being swayed by mischievous acts of the enemies of the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said.

Hemmati, for his part, said Iran’s request was being presented to the IMF’s executive board, and that Tehran was intent to pursue the demand.

Iran has submitted a request for a $5-billion emergency loan, which it requires to fight the new coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed 4,110 people in the country. Tehran has asked that the loan be provided under the Fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), a mechanism which is available to all member countries facing an urgent balance of payment need.

“We expect the IMF to immediately respond to the request of Iran which itself is a founding member of the Fund,” the CBI chief said in a post on his Instagram page earlier in the day.

Iran presses IMF for swift processing of loan request Chief banker says the IMF is expected to process Iran’s loan request under its Rapid Finance Instrument.

Media reports have suggested over the past weeks that the United States government, which, itself, is refusing to lift its sanctions against the Islamic Republic despite the outbreak, is also trying to hamper Iran’s efforts to get the emergency funding. Washington has allegedly claimed that Tehran might use the funds to compensate the losses that are brought about by the bans.

Unblocking assets

Speaking to Rouhani, Hemmati also reported on the measures taken by the CBI to gain access to its resources that are deposited in overseas banks, so that it can meet the nation’s needs, especially concerning the items that are required for the fight against the new coronavirus.

According to Hemmati, the process has most recently led to the unblocking of $1.6 billion of Iran’s assets that were held by the Luxembourg-based Clearstream, a post-trade service provider.

On Wednesday, Hemmati had said that the funds were made available after the CBI won a legal battle in Europe against a US attempt to have Iranian funds blocked and handed over to Washington for compensating what Washington calls “victims of terror.”

US attempt to block Iranian funds in Europe nullified: IranIran says it successfully ‘nullified’ a US attempt to block $1.6 billion of Iranian funds in Luxembourg.

Other courts in Europe have previously dismissed claims brought up by American plaintiffs to seize CBI assets to pay for damages suffered over the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Iran totally denies charges related to any involvement in the 9/11 attacks.

Iran says any attempts to implicate it in the incidents are a politically-motivated drive by Washington that has conversely been trying to shield Saudi Arabia against any repercussion from the tragedy.