Over the
last six months, Iran has evaded U.S. sanctions by importing Turkish gold to
pay for billions of dollars worth of energy sales to Turkey.
Iran importing gold to
evade economic sanctions, Turkish official says
By Ivan
Watson and Gul Tuysuz, CNN
November
29, 2012 -- Updated 1627 GMT (0027 HKT)
Turkey swaps Iran gold for
gas
- Deputy prime minister describes what amounts to a gold-for-oil barter system
- Government says Iran has imported billions of dollars worth of gold from Turkey since March
- In April, Turkey exported $1.2 billion in gold to Iran, a 438.2% jump from the previous year
- Economists say the gold-for-oil trade shows the U.S.-led sanctions are hurting Iran
Istanbul
(CNN) -- Over
the last six months, Iran has evaded U.S. sanctions by importing Turkish gold
to pay for billions of dollars worth of energy sales to Turkey.
Turkey's
deputy prime minister has described what amounts to a gold-for-oil barter
system.
"Why
did, all of the sudden, Turkey's gold exports, especially gold bullion, go
up?" Ali Babacan asked while speaking before a parliamentary budget
commission this month. The official transcript of his statements was published
by a Turkish government website Wednesday.
"An
important part of that is Iran," he said. "When Turkey buys Iranian
oil, we pay for it in Turkish lira. ... However, it is not possible for Iran to
take that money as dollars into its own country due to international restrictions,
the U.S.A.'s sanctions. Therefore, when Iran cannot take this money back as
currency, they withdraw Turkish lira and buy gold from our market. They take
the gold back to their own country."
According
to Turkish government statistics, Iran has imported billions of dollars worth
of gold from Turkey since it was ejected from the SWIFT international
electronic banking system in March.
Babacan's
rhetorical question and answer resolved suspicions that Turkish economists have
had for months, after they noticed an enormous spike in Turkey's gold exports
to Iran in April.
"Our
gold has always been there, the Iranians never paid any attention to it up
until the last year when they were kicked out of the SWIFT banking
system," said Atilla Yesilada, an economic analyst with Global Source
Turkey.
The
Turkish government reported that Iran leapt to first place among Turkey's
export markets in April. That month, Turkey exported $1.2 billion in gold to
Iran, a 438.2% jump from the previous year.
"Turkey
is the big hole, the big gap in the wall of sanctions," Yesilada said.
He was
pointing to the U.S.-led campaign to impose an economic blockade on Iran. Many
economists say Washington has effectively declared economic war on Iran because
of disagreements over its controversial nuclear program. The U.S. accuses Iran
of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons, charges that Tehran has long
denied.
Since the
sanctions have been unilaterally imposed by Washington, Turkey is not breaking
any international law by trading oil for gold with Iran. But in doing so, the
Turks risk incurring the wrath of the U.S. government, an important military
and political ally.
"At
the end of July, the President issued an order that authorizes Treasury to
impose sanctions on anyone who helps the Government of Iran acquire U.S.
dollars or precious metals, including gold," a U.S. Treasury Department
spokesman wrote to CNN this week, on condition he not be named. "We can't
comment on any investigations that may be ongoing."
Economists
say the gold-for-oil trade shows the sanctions are hurting Iran.
"This
is very, very 19th century, taking gold around to manage your international
sanctions," said Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, a professor of economics at the
Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
"Iran
lost its ability to sell oil, get electronic credit and use that to buy other
stuff."
There has
been a great deal of speculation about how the gold is physically being
transferred from Turkey to Iran. Those questions extend also to the United Arab
Emirates.
In
August, Turkish government statistics show that the UAE suddenly replaced Iran
as Turkey's chief export market. However, the main Turkish export to the UAE
was gold -- $1.9 billion worth in August alone. Dubai has traditionally been
the world's most important economic gateway to Iran.
In his
appearance before the parliamentary commission, Deputy Prime Minister Babacan
declined to comment on the logistics of the gold shipments. Instead,
unconfirmed stories have swirled in the Turkish media of gold bullion being
hand-carried out of the country in suitcases.
"We
need to be more transparent about what Iran is doing with those gold bars,
which apparently are being transported by physical couriers using 50-kilo
(110-pound) bags, which is the limit of how much gold you can take out of
Turkey," said Yesilada, the Turkish economist.
"There
are really several James Bondian-like aspects to this, which no government
would engage in, in an official or commercial transaction."
"The
picture looks like a James Bond movie. You have individuals with black
suitcases carrying gold," said Behzad Yaghmaian, an Iranian-American
political economist at Ramapo College.
"This
could not have happened in any form without the knowledge of the Turkish state.
This amount could not have left the country to go to Iran without the state
knowing about it."
The
Turkish government has not responded to a written request from CNN to comment
on the gold trade.
Some concerned observers worry the economic intrigue threatens to draw
attention from the growing impact the U.S.-led sanctions are having on ordinary
Iranians.
"Sanctions are a form of collective punishment on the Iranian
people," said Yaghmaian, the author of "Social Change in Iran: An
Eyewitness Account of Dissent, Defiance and New Movements for Rights."
"Iranians
who oppose the Islamic Republic (of Iran), who have been under pressure by the
Islamic Republic, who have been subjected to different forms of violence by the
Islamic Republic, are once again facing a new form of violence that is economic
violence."
Iranians
have watched their buying power collapse over the last year, as the value of
the Iranian rial plunged. There have also been reports of shortages of foreign
pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, since Iranian companies have found it
next to impossible to pay foreign suppliers because of restrictions on
international banking.
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