Iran "will fill the gap" caused by US sanctions that severely limit the country's access to letters of credit (L/Cs) according to chairman and chief executive officer of the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran EGFI, Afrooz Bahrami.

Washington brought back financial and other sanctions against Iran that for years severely curtailed Iranian entities' ability to obtain L/Cs in November 2018.

This followed US President Donald Trump's decision to back the country out of an international nuclear deal struck in 2015 that aimed to stop Iran's missile and nuclear programmes.

Exporters' problems

Speaking during the signing ceremony of an agreement between the Iranian-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce and EGFI, Bahrami said Iranian exporters have faced problems in recent months due to sanctions imposed on Iran's banking system.

Under these circumstances she said EGFI may eliminate some of these problems.

Non-oil cover

EGFI can provide guarantees for foreign investments and working capital for manufacturing companies according to Bahrami.

She says the fund has US$2.3 billion to help cover risks, five per cent of which is granted to non-oil exports.

Metal industry sanctioned

EGFI has already said it was aiming to issue guarantees for Iran Energy Exchange (Irenex), which trades in crude oil, petroleum products, electricity and coal.

Earlier this month the US added firms in Iran's metal industry to the list of sanctioned entities.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.