Mission Impossible for Farzin
What is the reason for the Central Bank Governor’s trip to Qatar?
According to Iran Gate’s report, one of the most important news these days, which has been less noticed due to the prominence of protests, is the trip of Mohammad Reza Farzin to Qatar. The new Governor of the Central Bank, who has only been in office for two weeks, has now started his trips to regional countries with the aim of freeing blocked currencies.
Meanwhile, Ali Saleh Abadi’s numerous visits to Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region did not yield any results, and the government did not have access to foreign currency resources.
Mohammad Reza Farzin, the Governor of the Central Bank, had a meeting with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed Al Thani, during his trip to Doha last Friday, January 5, 2023. According to domestic media reports, Farzin emphasized the need to develop monetary and banking cooperation and relations between Tehran and Doha during this trip.
However, experts believe that the main reason for the Central Bank Governor’s trip to the Persian Gulf region is to create a channel for accessing Iran’s blocked foreign currency resources outside the country.
Due to the extremely poor performance and controversial behavior of the diplomatic apparatus in the past 19 months, significant pressure has been exerted on Iran’s economy as a result of intensified sanctions. Therefore, it is expected that Mohammadreza Farzin, the head of the nuclear negotiation team, will also be replaced. This is probably why his appointment as the head of the central bank has not been finalized yet and he has traveled to Doha.
However, there is no evidence of Mohammadreza Farzin’s expertise in the field of economic diplomacy. Although he has a relatively decent academic background and experience in managing the country’s banking sector, it has not been heard that he has played an active and effective role during important negotiations with a foreign government.
Although considering the composition of the middle managers and deputies stationed at the central bank, it can be said that the academic background of the delegation sent to Doha is not very promising in terms of achieving the mentioned goals.
Farzin’s hand remains empty in Qatar.
After the United States withdrew from the JCPOA and reimposed nuclear sanctions during the Trump era, the issue of transferring Iran’s currency settlement channel from the UAE to Qatar was raised. The statements of the officials of the thirteenth government regarding the liberation of Iran’s blocked resources in South Korea also strengthened the validity of this issue, as the Central Bank had repeatedly announced the availability of these resources to the Iranian government with the help of a friendly government in the region.
Although these resources have not yet been made available to the Islamic Republic, it seems that the Qatar channel is the only hope for the government of Ebrahim Raisi to access blocked currency resources in Iran. For this reason, Farzin Rahi went to Doha in order to possibly facilitate the establishment of this channel.
The presence of a specialized advisory team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Farzin Rahi’s entourage from the Central Bank indicates the importance of this trip for the thirteenth government. The political and diplomatic dimensions of the Central Bank’s Governor’s visit to Qatar are likely to be much more extensive than previously thought.
However, it is still unclear whether the problems and obstacles that have arisen in the transfer and transportation of currency in Iran through Doha will be resolved, or if Farzin Rahi has encountered difficulties in his first foreign trip.
Persian
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