Bloomberg
By Benjamin Harvey
Wealthy Iranians in Turkey are collecting gold on behalf of the Iranian central bank and exporting it to Iran, Turkey’s Zaman newspaper reported.
The expatriates are strengthening the resources of the Islamic republic’s central bank amid concern over tougher sanctions against Iran, the Istanbul-based newspaper reported, citing a Turkish economy administration official it didn’t name.
Iranians in Dubai and India are also collecting gold and sending it to the Iranian central bank, Zaman said, citing the official. Some gold is being imported into Turkey from Europe, refined or re-shaped and then exported to Iran, Zaman said.
Turkey exported $1.4 billion of gold and precious metals to Iran in May and has shipped $3.1 billion worth in the first five months of the year, up from $13.3 million a year earlier, according to data on the state statistics institute’s website.
