Bank Melli Iran is not only the nation’s largest bank in terms of assets, it is also expanding its operations regionally with a variety of initiatives stretching from Afghanistan in the east to Iraq in the west and Dubai in the Gulf. Following the establishment earlier this year of Bahrain-based Future Bank, a joint venture with Iran’s Bank Saderat and Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank, Bank Melli hopes to set up a branch in Baghdad. According to Mr A Zafarani Hassan, a Bank Melli board member, a full licence to operate in Iraq has been granted in principle and this would help facilitate trade between the two countries.
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