TEHRAN- The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should respond to Iran's legal request.

Abdolnaser Hemmati said, “We expect the International Monetary Fund to respond to Iran's legal request as soon as possible, without discrimination or intrusion or pressure from the United States”.

He made the remarks in a virtual meeting held on Thursday on the sidelines of the 2021 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.

During the meeting, which was participated by the governors general of the central banks of the MENAP region, the CBI governor said since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the economies of all countries, especially developing countries, have been severely damaged, and Iran is one of the countries most affected by the epidemic in the region.

Referring to U.S. sanctions against the country, he said: "Despite the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the policy of maximum pressure, Iran has been able to overcome the problems and take appropriate measures, but like most developing countries, it needs financial resources to implement its policies."

Hemmati said that the International Monetary Fund has so far provided more than $100 billion in loans to 85 countries, adding, "The fund has lent nearly $16 billion to the countries of the MENAP region, but Iran, which was one of the first countries to request emergency funds, has not been provided any facilities, while receiving no logical reason in this due.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to defy U.S. resistance and grant the country the $5 billion loan which Iran requested to relieve the economic pressure caused by the pandemic.

“We’re hoping the IMF board won’t remain under U.S. pressure and will live up to its commitments to all countries,” Rouhani has said in a statement shown on state TV.

Fighting the coronavirus outbreak in the country, in last March, Iran asked IMF for an emergency loan to help it contain the pandemic and lessen its economic consequences.

In a letter to IMF in early March 2020, Hemmati requested $5 billion from the Fund’s Rapid Financing Initiative (RFI), an emergency program that gives loans to countries facing with sudden shocks such as natural disasters.

Although this was Tehran’s first request for an IMF loan in nearly six decades, it raised opposition from the U.S. that said it planned to block Iran's request.

The U.S. reaction was seriously blamed by the Iranian officials, saying that the United States has no right to prevent the International Monetary Fund from giving loan to Iran.

Later in April last year, Hemmati wrote on his Instagram page, “We expect the IMF to immediately respond to the request of Iran which itself is a founding member of the fund.”

In an interview conducted by Bloomberg and published at that time, Hemmati said, “We have not asked the United States for help! We have asked the IMF for support: an international, apolitical institution affiliated with the UN, and for which, we were one of the founder members and contributors over the past 75 years. The United States is a member of the IMF as all 190 or so other countries. The last time I checked, the United States is not running the IMF, and the management and the Board of Governors are those who oversee the work and ensure that the IMF delivers on its mandate. But I would like to repeat that all UN organizations say the IMF or WHO, should stay away from politics and deliver on their institutional mandates.”

The U.S. approach toward Iran’s request also evoked reactions from other countries, as they strongly blamed this stance.

MA/MA