According to Iranian officials, the international community’s unfreezing of assets under the P5+1 nuclear deal has given the nation back access to over $100 billion, much of it cash that’s been stuck in banks across Asia, which during the sanctions Iran was unable to touch.
A lot of it’s going to get touched soon, as the end of those sanctions also allows Iran to modernize its economic infrastructure, setting the stage for multi-billion dollar deals to revamp their civilian airliners, their oil production industry, and much more.
That’s got a lot of major Western companies scrambling to be first in line to bid on these huge new jobs, which have turned Iran from an economic pariah into one of the most sought after, and most cash rich, clients int he world.
Iranian officials indicated that a portion of the money is going to be brought back to Iranian banks, now connected to the international SWIFT system, to shore up the nation’s currency reserves, which should spell an end to Iran’s long-standing inflation woes. Much of it, however, is going to stay in the big international banks for now, for convenience of spending it.
Convenience? They should have learned by now not to trust Western banks to hold their money. That just leaves it hostage.