Iran, Germany to establish joint banking committee

After the nuclear negotiations between Iran and P5+1 countries - China , France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S. and Germany - resulted in success, it was announced that the German and Iranian governments have decided to establish a joint banking committee. According to the news of Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency, Valiollah Seif, Iran's central bank governor, said officials from Berlin and Tehran would come together in September for the first meeting of the joint banking committee. "The re-entrance of Iranian banks into the German market might cause some problems. The joint committee will solve these problems quickly," Seif said. Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. together with Germany came to an understanding in the nuclear negotiations on July 14. Additionally, the U.N. Security Council unanimously accepted the draft resolution, which approves the nuclear agreement and stipulates the U.N. sanctions on Iran will be gradually lifted.

German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel became the first Western politician who visited Iran together with a delegation of business leaders after the agreement by attending the Iran-Germany Economic Cooperation Conference held in Tehran. Iran's Bank Sepah, Bank Melli and Bank Saderat were in cooperation with Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank before the sanctions. The sanctions, which were imposed because of Iran's nuclear program, were aggravated in 2012, and the country was excluded from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), which is based in Belgium and mediates international banking transactions.

Sanctions imposed by SWIFT on Iranian banks made it more difficult for the country's oil exports, which were directed to Asian countries because of the sanctions of Western countries on Tehran. Abbas Araghchi, deputy for legal and international affairs of Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press conference held Thursday in Tehran that $700 million of Iran's frozen assets abroad would be released every month after the sanctions were lifted. It is estimated that the total amount is around $150 billion.