Non-accession to FATF obstacle for banking relationship with Armenia; Official

Speaking with ILNA news agency, the economic activist confirmed “Not accession to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the main obstacle for not having a banking relationship with Armenia”. Adding that the Armenian government is very strict in combating money laundering and trafficking.

Iran is currently on FATF's watch list and has received a final deadline of February 2020, the failure to observe which will put the country on an international blacklist.

Head of Iran-Armenia Joint Chamber of Commerce said that the volume of trade between the two countries is between $ 350 million and $ 400 million per year, which has been steadily increasing since joining the Eurasian Union.

Referring to a branch of Bank Mellat in Yerevan, he confirmed “This bank operates under the Central Bank of Armenia and is actually an Armenian bank with an Iranian name.”

Regarding the two main exchanges of the two countries, the amember of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce said: "We are exchanging energy with Armenia as we import electricity from them in the cold season and give them gas in the heat season."

In July, Hervic Yarijanyan said that Yerevan is working on plans to establish new trade relations with Tehran based on national currencies.

Iran and Armenia, which have been in friendly relations for decades, began a new chapter in bilateral relations in 2018, as the two countries are taking steps in the direction of a strategic relationship.

Iran was named Armenia's 6th most important trading partner in 2017, but in 2018 Iran was promoted to Yerevan's fifth most important trading partner.

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