Goodwill should be transformed to action to resolve banking problem: Richard Dalton

EghtesadOnline: Richard Dalton, Former ambassador to Iran says that western goodwill should be transformed into action in order to resolve financial problems.

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05 November 2016

Q. What is your opinion about the current trade relationship between Iran and Britain?

A. Britain trade relation with Iran is growing at a satisfactory rate but it is starting from a low pace, because during the period of sanctions our commercial relations with Iran fell back further than those of our competitors.
So there is a lot of work to be done by everybody from government to individual and companies and I am glad to say that work is being done and the results are starting to show.
There does need to be a big effort in the next few months to change the climate of the opinion about access for the Iranian financial institutions to the international banking and financial market.
That is a subject that is now well known and well established; goodwill is expressed, support for moving forward is expressed but that now needs to be transformed into action.

At present British companies have one hand tied behind their backs because they don’t have medium size financial institutions that are going to handle trade finance or monies received in return for goods and services and we are hoping that, the problem will be addressed quickly.

Q. What steps has been taken by the British government to resolve the financial problems?
A. Much of the clarification that is been introduced by the US to its original regulations is owed to presentations by Britain and its European partners.

Secondly after a period where our government has been concentrating on the consequences of the referendum on the European Union where the business of government has had to concentrate on European questions and the rebuilding those parts of our government dealing with foreign trade and foreign relations into a different set of institutions, that period has come to an end and I am confident that the expressions of support for trade with Iran that we recently heard from Dr. Liam Fox, the minister for trade will be translated into concrete action.

Q. Is there any trade delegation going to Iran?
A. There is an important delegation in the area of mining which will be going to Iran later his year.
I have no information about ministerial visits.
The chancellor of the exchequer, Philip Hammond knows Iran file extremely well and I believe he will lend his support in anyway he possibly can.
At present he is pre-occupied with preparing the next tax and expenditure statement for the British government.
So later in the year or early next year maybe the idea of visit by our chancellor can be revived.

Q. What can you make of Brexit and future trade with Iran?
I don’t think it is going to make much difference in foreign policy or in our commercial relations.
What I can say is that resolving the problems which are impeding Iran’s access to the international financial market and thus boosting the prospect for British trade with Iran is a test of the rhetoric and the policy of those who unlike me advocated departure from the European Union.
They said we can do even better as an international trading power and we shall hold them to their words not just in trade with major emerging markets -- china, India and elsewhere but also in trade with the very significant emerging market of Iran.

Q. What is your thought on the next US presidential election and the commitment to JCPOA?
A. Unfortunately there is a link been established in the public mind in the US between Iran’s external policy and whether or not further measures should be taken to facilitate Iran’s access to international market.
We all know that US has carried out its obligation so far but in order to maximize the benefit to Iran from JCPOA there has to be additional steps taken and it is very important that Iran sends a signal of willingness to cooperate in peaceful settlement case by case of the many outstanding regional issues.
As I said there is no direct connection between that and the JCPOA but those problems, the issue of detained dual nationals are connected in the minds of the people who have to be persuaded to make economic moves that would help Iran.

Q. If the US president retreats from JCPOA, what would Britain’s position be?
A. I think its very unlikely that the next US president will retreat from implementing the JCPOA and if they express a policy to modify or change it, they would run into serious opposition from UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, the powers that US rely on for cooperation not just in connection with its Middle East policies but more widely.