Swiss humanitarian channel neutralized by US policies; Expert
Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce President, Sharif Nezam-Mafi told ILNA that the Trump administration uses Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) as one of its propaganda tools.
Speaking to ILNA news agency, the Iranian official said “The United States claims to have set up a humanitarian channel, but in practice does not allow it to be used.”
Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) is a payment mechanism aimed at enabling the basic goods to be delivered to Iran.
The aim of the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement is to ensure that exporters and trading companies in the food, pharmaceutical, and medical sectors based in Switzerland have a secure payment channel with a Swiss bank through which payments for their exports to Iran are guaranteed.
He added that this channel is like the “Piggy bank”; when the United States does not allow money to be transferred to this channel, it is clear that this process is not practical.
Sharif Nezam-Mafi confirmed that the world's largest agribusiness companies in the world are also present in SHTA channel; They can help Iran to provide 20 million tons of grain that it needs but it depends on the transfer of money to the account.
Referring to the upcoming 2020 American presidential elections, the Iranian expert said “If Joe Biden -now the presumptive Democratic nominee- wins the election, the channel could be more prosperous.”
Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi described US’ unilateral sanctions as the enemy’s fifth column, saying “SHTA does not match Iran’s humanitarian needs.”
“On 27 February 2020, the U.S. Treasury finalized with much fanfare “The Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement” (SHTA) allowing certain humanitarian transactions with Iran. However, this narrow channel does not match Iran’s humanitarian needs in the current situation,” Iranian diplomat said.
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