Investors flee Iran to evade U.S. sanctions

Nora Bendary

The U.S. sanctions are still threatening the economy of Iran, the matter which has been prompting Tehran into adopting a new way of thinking regarding the 2015 nuclear deal and its policies that cause more sanctions to be imposed over the Mullahs’ regime.

As Iranian investors began transferring their investments to Turkey to ease the impact of sanctions on Tehran, the state-run Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) has started work to set up a plant in the eastern Turkish province of Van, Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported on November 8th.

Mohamed Amin Bilmes, the acting mayor of Van, told state-run Anadolu Agency  the plant is planned to be built on an area of 50 hectares, pointing out that sanctions have pushed Iranian companies to transfer their business abroad.

This started to be implemented as Iran and Turkey have preserved their rapprochement amid U.S. economic and diplomatic sanctions against both countries in recent years.

It is expected to provide 1,000 job opportunities with a total cost estimated at $150-200 million, according to IKCO’s feasibility study reports.

Farshad Moqimi, CEO of the company, has arrived in Van with his delegation that included Mehmet Aslan, chairman of Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ), and  Necdet Takva, president of Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Eastern Anatolia Development Agency.

Aslan added in press remarks that Iranian investors headed to Turkey because of their inability to sell their products in the European market; because of the sanctions.

He further explained that Van enjoys a strategic location, making it the gateway of Iran to the West and the gate of Turkey to the east, and that the state has received in recent years, many investment requests from Iranian companies, he added that some companies have already started production.

Around 16 months after the 2015 nuclear agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the multilateral agreement and imposed crippling economic sanctions on  Tehran.

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency revealed on Monday that Iran is enriching uranium at its heavily fortified underground Fordow site and speeding up enrichment generally.

Ahmed Qibal, a researcher specialized in Iranian affairs, has told The Reference in an interview that the US sanctions, according to the policy of maximum sanctions, which are gradually hitting the Iranian economy with severe crises, are also targeting companies and investments inside Iran.

He further added that Turkey, as the country geographically closest to Iran, was a strong candidate to attract such investments, however, Ankara is not considered the safest place for these investments, taking into consideration many corruption and money laundering cases involving Iranians and Turks who have had strong ties with the IRGC and have worked for the Iranian economy in accordance with a strategy designed to bypass U.S. sanctions.