Iran on a drip from Moscow. Russia supports the regime in Tehran with billions of dollars

Russia sent almost 5 tons of banknotes worth a total of $2.5 billion to Iran by train and ship just days after Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Tehran during his first presidential term in 2018, according to customs documents obtained by the Telegraph.

The documents show that the transfers were made through Russia's state-owned Probsvyazbank, which delivered the notes to the Central Bank of Iran. There were 34 shipments, each containing banknotes worth between $57 million and $115 million. A year earlier, the Russian bank had become an unofficial lender to the Russian defense and security sector, and was headed by Pyotr Fradkov, the son of former Russian Prime Minister and head of foreign intelligence (SVR), Mikhail Fradkov.

The operation began in August 2018, just a week after the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Iran following the failure of talks related to Iran's nuclear program and the U.S. withdrawal from further negotiations.

To reduce volume and weight, the shipments consisted mainly of 500 euro banknotes, although the values ​​declared in the documents were in dollars. The cash was transported along a carefully planned route to minimize checks and transfer of information required, for example, by the international SWIFT system.

For this purpose, the money was first transported by rail from Moscow to Astrakhan in southern Russia. From there, they were loaded onto ships that delivered them to the Iranian port of Amirabad via the Caspian Sea. After reaching the northern coast of Iran, the banknotes were put back into railway cars, where they reached Tehran.

Investigators analyzing the documentation noted that the frequency and scale of the shipments prove that it was a centrally coordinated state operation, and not ad hoc financial assistance.

Asha Castleberry-Hernandez, a former US State Department adviser for the Middle East, was quoted by the British newspaper and noted that these supplies enabled Russia to provide covert support to Tehran, which reflects the importance the Kremlin attaches to Iran's survival.

Ariane Tabatabai, senior assistant to the US special envoy for Iran, suggested that the supplies could have been used to finance military purchases or support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The money arrived in Iran as the country faced its worst liquidity shortages in decades after being excluded from key international banking systems. (PAP)

tebe/mal/