Iran’s sanctioned Bank Parsian issued overseas payment instructions through Parsian Exchange, an Iran International investigation found on Wednesday. Journalists identified 33 instruction letters worth roughly $36 million.
Correspondence and transaction records covered November 2022 to May 2023. Instructions involved United Arab Emirates (UAE) dirhams, Chinese yuan and US dollars, with recipient accounts in the UAE, China and Hong Kong.
However, the journalists found no evidence that banks in the UAE and China knowingly helped circumvent US sanctions. Bank Parsian and Parsian Exchange did not respond to their requests for comment.
Records described a system for paying overseas suppliers on behalf of Iranian importers. An importer first sought foreign currency from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which sold it to Bank Parsian.
Other Iranian banks held accounts belonging to separate companies or individuals described as trustees. Bank Parsian then instructed those banks to arrange payments through its exchange subsidiary.
Instead of appearing to originate from a sanctioned bank or the Iranian state, payments appeared to come from private companies.
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Much of the foreign currency was already abroad. Proceeds from oil, petrochemical and other exports funded payments between overseas accounts, rather than requiring currency to leave Iran.
US Treasury designated Bank Parsian in October 2018. Nevertheless, the documents describe overseas payment arrangements several years after that designation.
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Bank Parsian directly owns 90% of Parsian Exchange, with the remainder held through Parsian Financial Group. Although the exchange has no separate US sanctions listing, US rules automatically block entities owned at least 50% by blocked persons.
