Governor Mahmud Bah-mani was quoted Monday by the Iranian Students News Agency as saying, “The Iranian Central Bank is not linked to the government. It belongs to the people and that is why it sometimes acts independently. Everyone should know that people should not be sanctioned.”
Bahmani sidestepped the fact that he is appointed by the president and that the Bank’s board is entirely comprised of government officials, including the president.
A legislative effort to make the bank more independent by appointing several private sector economists to the board was defeated several months ago, cementing the Bank as a government institution.
Bahmani commented after 92 of the 100 US senators signed a letter calling for the Central Bank to be sanctioned, a move that could be devastating to the Iranian economy. Both the Bush and Obama Administrations have considered such sanctions, but both have stepped back for fear that the international response might well be more negative than positive.