Turkey Revokes Licence of Iran's Mellat Bank Istanbul Branch

Turkey's banking regulator has withdrawn the operating licence of the Istanbul branch of Iran's Mellat Bank, according to a notice carried in the Official Gazette.

The decision, taken by the BDDK banking watchdog, covers the Istanbul Turkey Central Branch of Bank Mellat, whose head office is in Tehran. The gazette notice did not refer to US sanctions or to any operational problems at the lender.

Instead, the regulator acted under a provision of Turkey's banking law that permits a licence to be cancelled or withdrawn when a bank's continued operations are judged to threaten depositors' rights or the security and stability of the financial system.

The revocation comes as Washington pushes other governments to step up economic pressure on Tehran. Earlier in the month, the US Treasury Department placed sanctions on a small Turkish investment bank and two of its subsidiaries.

The Treasury also said Turkey and Oman had agreed to halt flights by the Iranian carrier Mahan Air to their territories, following discussions with both countries on compliance with US measures targeting Iran.