Germany considers Iranian bid to withdraw €300 million cash

TEHRAN, Jul. 10 (MNA) – German authorities are considering a request by Iran to withdraw 300 million euros from bank accounts held in Germany and transfer the cash to Iran, Reuters quoted German newspaper Bild on Monday. According to Reuters citing unnamed government officials reported by Bild newspaper, Iran is seeking withdraw the funds from the Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG (eihbank) over sanctions-related concerns. The US president announced on May 8 that Washington was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement and that he plans to reinstate US nuclear sanctions and "the highest level" of economic bans on Iran. The new batch of US sanctions will come into effect by August. According to Bild, Iran told the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) it needed the cash from the accounts “to pass on to Iranian citizens who require cash while travelling abroad, given their inability to access recognised credit cards." BaFin was now reviewing the request, which had been briefed to senior officials in the chancellery, foreign ministry and finance ministry, the newspaper added.