May 26, 2018
The Republic of Georgia has frozen about 150 bank accounts tied to Iranians in order to comply belatedly with United Nations sanctions on Iran. The government acted only after it was exposed for ignoring the UN sanctions. But Iranians in Georgia said most Iranians there are opposed to the Islamic Republic and shouldn’t be subject to the sanctions.
Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani announced the freezing of the Iranian bank accounts at a news conference May 18, in response to questions about a front-page article in The Wall Street Journal the previous day that documented a sharp increase of investment by Iranians in Georgia over the past two years.
There have been numerous reports over the years of the Iranian government allegedly using the Gergian banking system to ease its way around sanctions with Iranian officials visiting the country and opening accounts for that purpose.
Georgian officials also said the government is re-considering its policy on visas for Iranians.
Since 2011, Georgia has waived the visa requirement for Iranian nationals, fueling a boom of Iranian tourists and businessmen coming into the country. The Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) said only two other countries, Turkey and Armenia, currently allow Iranians such easy access.
Georgian officials said a change, if any, would be part of a broader reshuffling of its visa policy. “There will be changes for visa regulations for several countries,” which will likely include Iran, said a Georgian official.
Sarah Ghazi, editor of Tbilisi’s main Persian-language newspaper, Aryana, said Iranian visitors seeking to enter Georgia from Armenia the previous two days were denied access if they didn’t have a prior hotel booking. Such refusals are new, she said. (Armenia lies between Iran and Georgia.)
In addition, she said Georgian banks were tightening regulations for opening bank accounts by Iranian citizens. She warned that such measures could end up hurting the Iranian government’s opponents, rather than its supporters. “The majority of Iranians [in Georgia] are against the regime and many can’t return there,” she said.
