New U.S. sanctions will hurt Egypt-Iran bank operations – Egyptian banker

New U.S. sanctions against Iran will be hard for the latter’s joint bank with Egypt in terms of the foreign transactions with its network of two correspondent banks, an Egyptian banker said on Wednesday.

Founded in 1975, Misr Iran Development Bank (MIDB) is 59.86 percent controlled by Cairo and 41.14 percent by Iran Foreign Investment Company (IFIC), a state-owned company to manage the state’s assets and investments overseas.

“These sanctions will hurt the bank’s profitability and overseas activities,” MIDB’s managing director Amr Tantawi told Amwal Al Ghad on the sidelines of the 41st meeting of the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, pledged that companies doing business with Tehran would be barred from doing business with the United States.

Tuesday’s sanctions target Iran’s purchases of U.S. dollars, metals trading, coal, industrial software and the auto sector.

In an early morning tweet, Trump described the measures as “the most biting sanctions ever” and warned they would “ratchet up to yet another level” in November, when U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil will be reimposed.

The sanctions are a consequence of Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from an international deal that sought to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing pressure on the country’s shaky economy.

The Trump administration is betting that backing out of it will force Iran to shut down its nuclear enrichment efforts, curb its weapons program and end its support of brutal governments or uprisings in the Middle East.