Iran uses small bank in Germany to beat sanctions: Wall Street Journal

A small Iranian-owned bank in Germany has been used by Iran's government to go around international economic sanctions and do business on behalf of blacklisted organizations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Citing unnamed Western officials, the newspaper said the bank in question is the European-Iranian Trade Bank AG (EIH).

According to the report, the financial institution has done over a billion dollars of business for Iranian companies associated with Iran's military and ballistic missile procurement programs, including firms sanctioned by the United States, the United Nations and the European Union.

The UN Security Council slapped a fourth set of sanctions against Iran in June for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment, the most sensitive part of Tehran's controversial atomic drive.

The new UN measures authorise states to conduct high-seas inspections of vessels believed to be ferrying banned items to Iran and add 40 entities to a list of people and groups subject to travel restrictions and financial sanctions.

Meanwhile, the US administration added Iranian individuals and firms to a blacklist as part of US and European efforts to tighten the screws on Iran.