Iranian Entity: Bank Melli

Bank Melli Iran
Bmi
National Bank of Iran

Named in U.N. Security Council resolution 1803 of March 3, 2008, as a bank domiciled in Iran, with respect to which (and its branches and subsidiaries abroad) financial institutions should "exercise vigilance" due to concerns that activities involving the bank could contribute to proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems; along with all of its offices worldwide, added to the Specially Designated National (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on October 25, 2007, freezing its assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting transactions with U.S. parties, pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems; four of its subsidiaries were also then designated pursuant to Executive Order 13382: Arian Bank (Kabul), Bank Kargoshaee (Tehran), Bank Melli Iran Zao (Moscow), and Melli Bank Plc (London) (see separate entity records); listed by the U.S. government as a bank owned or controlled by the Iranian Government, prohibiting new investments by U.S. persons and most servicing by U.S. depository institutions.

According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, provides banking services to entities involved in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, including those designated by the United Nations for their involvement in the programs; according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has facilitated numerous purchases of sensitive materials for Iran's nuclear and missile programs, by providing a range of financial services such as opening letters of credit and maintaining accounts; according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, clients have included the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC - see separate entity record), the Qods Force, and entities controlled or owned by them, as well as Bank Sepah, Defense Industries Organization, and Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (see separate entity records); according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, was used to send at least $100 million to Qods Force from 2002 to 2006, asked that its name be removed from financial transactions involving the IRGC, and was careful not to identify Bank Sepah in transactions after the latter was designated under U.N. Security Council resolution 1747; has denied all charges made by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Iran's largest bank, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury; handles a substantial share of the government's foreign currency payments, and provides foreign exchange payment services; as of May 2008, board members include Ali Sedghi (Chairman and Managing Director), Ali Akbar Asghari, Jamal Damghanian, Barat Ghanbari, Mohamad Taghi Tavakoli and Mohamad Reza Hoseinzadeh; has overseas locations in Baku, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Sharjah, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Paris, Hamburg, and Baghdad; the U.S. Department of the Treasury also lists locations in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, Cairo and Muharraq; foreign banking network also includes Melli Bank Plc in London and Bank Melli Iran Zao in Russia (wholly owned subsidiaries - see separate entity records), Future Bank (see separate entity record) in Bahrain (a joint venture with Iran's Bank Saderat (see separate entity record) and Bahrain's Ahli Bank), and Arian Bank in Kabul (a joint venture with Bank Saderat - see separate entity record); established in 1928.