The Cairo-based Misr Iran Development Bank (MIDB) has denied allegations that it violated internationally-approved sanctions against Iran.
MIDB chairman Ismael Hassan in a press statement on Sunday rejected claims by The Atlantic, a US monthly magazine, that the bank helped Iran circumvent penalties. Hassan stressed that all of the banks transactions are made within the Egyptian market.
“MIDB is 100% Egyptian”, he said, describing the allegations as attempted defamation.
The Atlantic report pointed out that Cairo has been expanding its financial ties with Tehran through the MIDB. The article charged Cairo transferred US$500 million to Iran in 2009, which it labelled a sanctions breach.
MIDB was founded in 1975 before Shah Mohammad Reza Pahalvi's ousting and the subsequent Iranian Islamic Revolution. MIDB was created with the aim of fostering bilateral ties.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
