Since the announcement by US President Donald Trump of his withdrawal from the May 8 Iran agreement and the return of sanctions, the United States has been monitoring the performance of SWIFT SWIFT, based in Belgium, to prevent any remittances to Iran.
The US action comes as European countries try to find a way to reduce the risk of US sanctions on their financial dealings with Iran. Experts say the tests have shown that America will not hesitate to pressure large European institutions and banks through sanctions to deter it from dealing with Iran.
The US Treasury Department is closing the doors of the financial system to banks and financial institutions that cooperate with Iran, and has begun to put Swift under scrutiny since Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal.
In this context, the Financial Times reported that the European Union is still resisting American actions, but there are great fears of US sanctions.
"It is clear that this decision is very difficult for both sides, and there is no indication that European governments agree to the Trump request," said Richard Navio, professor of global energy policy at Columbia University.
Swift seeks neutrality
"It wants to be neutral in the global financial system," Brussels-based Swift said in a statement. "It will consider the US Treasury's decision to ban services to Iran by early November."
Swift executives say there are no changes in EU rules, and of course they wait to clarify the situation by European and American officials, and they will receive their orders from Brussels. "
The latest statistics indicate that Swift linked 11,000 banks in its network in 2017 with more than 28 million transactions.
To avoid sanctions on European financial institutions and institutions because of US sanctions against Iran, Britain, France and Germany are trying to minimize their financial implications.
The sanctions imposed on Iran and North Korea between 2009 and 2013 were implemented even in the absence of European cooperation with Swift, and so the application of new sanctions to Iran through Swift is possible, said Elisabeth Rosenberg of the US Security Bureau, a former adviser to the US Treasury Department. In more than one way.
One of those ways is for the US Treasury to take full control of Swift, but Rosenberg says that is not possible, because 25 strong sectors are active in this large financial network, including major Western banks, so America can not impose sanctions on SWIFT.
"The key question is how far can SWIFT resist the American approach?" Said Behnam Ben Talblo, a researcher at the Institute for the Defense of Democracies. To what extent will Europe follow America as the world's largest economy?
The Financial Times noted that SWIFT could face fines similar to those of Clearstream and Clear Euro because of their relationship with Iran in the past.
Clearstream was fined $ 152 million in 2013 for financial intermediation and sanctions against Iran, while Euro Clare executives say they will follow all rules and keep things under control.