Moscow considers the new US sanctions against the National Bank of Iran illegitimate, and intends to continue cooperation with Tehran, including the banking sector, Zamir Kabulov, the director of the second Asian department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told RIA Novosti.
“We consider unilateral sanctions to be illegitimate. This will not affect our approaches to Iran”, – Kabulov said.
“As we planned, we will continue to cooperate with Iran in the banking sector. This will not affect in any way”, – he added.
The US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States imposed sanctions against the National Bank of Iran. According to him, these are the highest sanctions ever imposed on this country. In turn, Finance Minister Stephen Mnuchin said the bank was the “last source of funds” for the Iranian authorities.
The National Bank of Iran is the largest commercial financial institution in the country with assets that were estimated at about $ 80 billion in 2016 and with 3,000 branches throughout Iran.