False Accusations Betray U.S. Banks' Own Illegalities

“We have proven that the claims made by America are unfounded…”

The governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mahmoud Bahmani, stated, “In presenting the documents to the International Monetary Fund, we provided proof that America’s claims accusing Iran’s banking system of engaging in money laundering are untrue.”

As reported by the central news office, Mahmoud Bahmani explained the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the meeting of the World Bank. He commented on the unfounded allegations America’s Secretary of State made against a number of Iranian banks with regard to money laundering, and added, “These allegations are completely unfounded and were politically motivated. America is accusing several banks of the Islamic Republic of Iran of engaging in money laundering in order to distract world public opinion from the illegal activities of its own banks, but banking laws and regulations in the Islamic Republic of Iran do not allow such illegal activities.”

With reference to the pressure the American Treasury Department is putting on merchant banks of Iran he declared, “To date, American efforts have been unable to put a finger on any serious problem in our trade and financial exchange, and we continue to invariably set our own economic agenda using different means.”

Speaking on the impact the ongoing global economic crisis has had on Iran’s economy, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran also explained, “Through currency management and the control of imports and promotion of exports, we have reduced inflation in the past six months from 29 percent to 17.8 percent and we are hopeful that inflation will drop to a mere one-digit figure in the near future.”

He also said, “To curb the costs of printing banknotes, a special committee has been set up to study the option of deleting three zeros from the national currency. The aim is to find a solution by the beginning of next year.” He underscored the idea with the disclaimer: “This undertaking has nothing to do with inflation, we only want to change the appearance of the money.”