Opening of SHTA is limited but is a positive step; Expert
“Swiss humanitarian channel, though limited, is a positive step towards delivering humanitarian goods to Iranians,” Managing Director of the Association of Iranian Banks in Europe Amir Alizadeh told ILNA.
Speaking to ILNA news agency, Amir Alizadeh said that the Swiss government has been negotiating with the US government for a year so the result was a "Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement" called the “SHTA”, for which they obtained the necessary licenses from the US Treasury.
“The Swiss mechanism is different from the INSTEX, which founded by three European countries.”
He added that the Swiss Ministry for Economic Affairs will provide all the details of transactions, including buyer information, to avoid any problems for the Swiss bank.
On Thursday, a Swiss humanitarian channel to bring food and medicine to Iran kicked off trial operations, the US Department of the Treasury and the Swiss government said. The Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) seeks to ensure that Swiss-based exporters and trading companies in the food, pharmaceutical and medical sectors can sell their products to Iran without landing in the crosshairs of the US Treasury.
The governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnasser Hemmati said Switzerland's payment mechanism is not enough, as it does not cover bank transactions.
"The US government's claims could be termed as valid if they permit banking transactions for humanitarian goods," Hemmati said.
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