[Mb-civic] CBC News - FEARING SANCTIONS, TEHRAN EMPTIES EUROPEAN ACCOUNTS

Fri Jan 20 16:23:15 PST 2006

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FEARING SANCTIONS, TEHRAN EMPTIES EUROPEAN ACCOUNTS
WebPosted Fri Jan 20 12:33:32 2006

---Iran says it is taking its money out of European banks, apparently
to thwart possible economic sanctions for trying to develop its
nuclear weapons.

 "We have begun transferring. We are doing that."

Ebrahim Sheibani, governor of Iran's central bank, declared on Friday
that "we transfer the foreign exchange reserves to wherever we deem
fit," the Associated Press said, quoting the semi-official Iranian news
agency ISNA.

"We have begun transferring. We are doing that."

It is not clear that an asset freeze or other punishment is imminent, but
it has happened to Iran in the past. The oil exporter has many billions
of dollars in assets.

The country's assets in the United States have been frozen since Iranians
seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held its staff hostage after the
1979 Islamic revolution.

Last year, an Italian court ordered an Iranian embassy bank account
frozen at the request of U.S. plaintiffs seeking compensation for
terrorist acts they allege were supported by Iran.

Earlier this month, Iran broke internationally monitored seals on some of
its nuclear labs and announced it was resuming research into uranium
enrichment, sparking widespread concern.

FROM JAN. 10, 2006: Iran set to resume nuclear research

Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes, but
highly enriched uranium can also be used as the raw material for nuclear
weapons &#8211; something the United States and Europe fear Tehran is
secretly trying to develop.

U.S. and European diplomats are trying to gather support for a move to
refer the issue to the UN Security Council, which could impose economic
sanctions.