BNP Paribas gets approval to go to Iran

WASHINGTON, June 12 (AFP): US authorities authorised BNP Paribas to operate in Iran earlier in the year, even as they considered penalties against the French bank for earlier breaking an embargo imposed on the country, a Treasury official said.

The US Treasury Department granted the bank two licenses in February and March for transactions in Iran as sanctions were being reduced against the country.

The reductions were the result of November negotiations in Geneva in which Iran and the P5+1 permanent UN Security Council members met over the country's nuclear activities.

News of the licenses was first made public by The Wall Street Journal. A Treasury spokeswoman told the news agency that the information was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.

According to the Journal, the Treasury granted the licenses while US prosecutors were seeking to impose a huge fine on the bank.