Turkiye has revoked the operating licence of Bank Mellat’s Istanbul branch, the Iranian lender’s only branch in the country, according to a decision published by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.
The decision, issued in the Official Gazette on Saturday, referred to the “Bank Mellat, Head Office in Tehran, Istanbul Turkey Central Branch”.
The regulator said a banking licence could be withdrawn where a bank’s continued operation was considered a risk to depositors’ rights or to the security and stability of the financial system.
It did not cite US sanctions against Bank Mellat or identify any specific operational problems behind the decision.
Bank Mellat has faced years of sanctions
Bank Mellat has been subject to Western sanctions over allegations that Iran pursued a nuclear weapon under the cover of a civil nuclear programme.
The measures were lifted under a 2015 agreement between Tehran and world powers intended to limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions on Iran.
Bank Mellat was subjected to further US and Gulf sanctions in 2019 after being named among 25 entities allegedly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The licence decision comes earlier this month after the US Treasury Department sanctioned Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, also known as Golden Global Bank, and two subsidiaries over alleged links to Iran.
The Treasury accused the Turkish investment bank of facilitating tens of millions of dollars in transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and of providing the Iranian government with access to banking services to move funds internationally. Golden Global Bank has denied the allegations.
