The US has recently imposed some new economic and financial restrictions on
Iran and North
Korea. In a very severe step, the American authorities disconnected all of US bank connections with one of the main Iranian banks (Bank Saderat
Iran) one month ago, after accusing that bank of sending money to Lebanese radical groups.
As its next step, the US is expected to cut all American bank transactions and financial connections with Iranian banks in the near future. Currently, the US is trying to create more and more banking restrictions for Iranian banks as well as for North
Korea in the international banking and finance system.
The US is trying to convince the European and some Asian banks to adhere to their banking sanctions policy to date a number of European banks have decided to align themselves with US policy and have discontinued their dealings with Iranian banks.
In the meantime, the Iranian authorities have recently restricted letters of credit and bank transfer by US Dollar, and are even considering sales of oil by a currency other than the US Dollar. However, due to the fact that North
Korea has no considerable presence in the global economy and world banking, these new banking sanctions will not damage their economy significantly. However,
Iran's circumstances are completely different.
Iran is the second most important oil exporter in OPEC (after Saudi Arabia) with an annual export of $60-70 billion. It also has extended international economic relations with other countries.