US questions Dubai bank over Iran sanctions

Dubai: Noor Islamic Bank’s operations have been disrupted as the US treasury Department believes that it was involved in processing oil sales, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the newspaper, the bank, which is partly owned by the local government of Dubai, agreed, in December, to close off what was believed to be Iran’s single largest channel for repatriating foreign currency oil receipts.

"As a UAE bank we comply with all UAE Central Bank and UAE government directives and international regulations, including those emanating from the UN, regarding sanctions on Iran. When we became aware, in December 2011, that unilateral US sanctions were to be applied against a number of Iranian banks we took pre-emptive action to end our business relationships with Iranian banks licensed in the UAE,” said a spokesperson for Noor Islamic in an emailed statement.