The United States has been trying to cut Iran’s access to the global financial system, including by putting pressure on Gulf Arab governments to isolate Iran, which it accuses of seeking nuclear weapons. The pressure is not working because cultural, political and economic ties between Gulf oil producers were too strong, Tahmasb Mazaheri told the Reuters Islamic Finance Summit.
"Neither us nor our neighbours will sacrifice our long-term interests because of the unilateral pressures," Mazaheri said.
"Particularly in the region, Bahrain and the Emirates and other neighbours all around Iran’s borders, we have a lot of partners who are working with us in the long term," he said.
He did not explain what form their assistance took.
Iran, which denies the nuclear charges, has long had close economic ties with Gulf states, especially in the UAE and Bahrain, Arab allies of Washington and home to the Middle East’s biggest financial centres.
Even so, banks in the world’s top oil-exporting region have bowed to pressure from the United States to make doing business with the Islamic Republic more difficult.
Bahrain’s largest lender by market value, Ahli United Bank, had "frozen" banking activity with Iran, where it operates an affiliate Future Bank with two Iranian partners, two sources familiar with the matter said last month.
