Iran is withdrawing assets from European banks in the face of tightening international sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme, an Iranian daily said on Tuesday.
The report appeared in the Etemad-e Melli newspaper on the day the European Union and the United States are expected to warn Iran they are ready to go beyond agreed UN sanctions if it shuns demands to suspend sensitive nuclear work.
"The ... government is withdrawing Iran's assets from Europe," the reformist daily said in a front-page headline. It said Mohsen Talaie, deputy foreign minister in charge of economic affairs, was the first Iranian official to confirm the withdrawal of Iranian assets from banks in Europe but it did not name them or give any figures.
Talaie was quoted as saying Iran, which has come under three rounds of UN sanctions since 2006 over its refusal to suspend work the West fears is aimed at making bombs, was converting some of its foreign exchange assets into gold and equities. Iran, the world's fourth-largest crude producer, is making windfall gains from record global oil prices and said in April its foreign exchange reserves stood at more than $80 billion.
Talaie said Iran was determined to transfer foreign assets and change their composition to try to neutralise the impact of international sanctions, Etemad-e Melli reported. "Upon the decision of the government's task force a segment of Iran's foreign exchange assets will be converted into real assets such as gold and stocks," Talaie said.
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