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| Stuart Levey: don’t invest in Iran |
Stuart Levey, US undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, gave a speech before the fifth annual conference on trade, treasury and cash management in the Middle East in Dubai in March during which he advised the audience not to invest in Iran. Below are the key allegations he made against Iranian institutions. "Iran disguises its activities through an array of deceptive techniques specifically designed to evade the controls of responsible financial institutions and avoid suspicion. For example, we have seen Iranian banks request that other financial institutions take their names off transactions when processing them in the international financial system.
"Iran also works to make its procurement efforts for its nuclear program appear to be unrelated and innocent commercial activities. Iranian entities form front companies in other countries for the sole purpose of exporting dual-use items to Iran that can be used in illicit nuclear and missile programs. These front companies enable the regime to obtain materials that the country of origin would typically prohibit from being exported to Iran."