|By Asa Fitch|
Iranian traders in Dubai are guardedly hopeful that business will rebound as sanctions relief begins to go into effect next week.
The European Union and U.S. are set to give Iran access to some of its oil revenues abroad and allow for freer trade in energy products providing the Islamic Republic meets the terms of a six-month agreement stipulating monitoring of nuclear facilities and limiting uranium enrichment. Dubai is home to a huge community of Iranians and Iranian companies, many of which have had a tougher time doing business because of the restrictions.
A. M. Jooniani, the owner of Persepolis Carpets in Dubai’s Deira area, said he recently sold some carpets to a customer in Kuwait who tried to pay him with a bank transfer. The bank refused to make the transfer because he was Iranian, he said, which forced the customer to find a different way to pay.
“The point is that sanctions, rightfully or wrongfully – I don’t indulge myself in politics – small businessmen get hurt a lot,” he said. “The large companies have always had their own ways to bend the sanctions, but a small or middle-class business, they get hurt.”
Abdollah Mubasser, the financial manager at Abdul Rahman Mahmoud Trading, another business in Deira that deals in wholesale kitchen and home wares, said an easing of sanctions could open up a lot of latent opportunities for Dubai’s merchants. His company, for example, used to do 30% to 40% of its trading with Iran, but now does none.
“It was a very good business and very beneficial, but because of the revaluation of the currency and the sanctions here, it collapsed,” he said, adding that Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum’s recent pronouncement of support for lifting the sanctions was encouraging.
Even for Dubai businesses that don’t have direct business ties with Iran, like the shoe-wholesaler Mohammed Ebrahim Ahmed & Co., lifting sanctions could be beneficial, manager Ahmad Zaminpaima said. The company currently sells to customers who then sell to Iranians, he said.
“I believe generally for the Iranians definitely it will be positive,” he said. “We can sell to Iran, we can buy from Iran. This will open up. It’s a big deal.”
While Mr. Jooniani said his outlook usually was pessimistic, he was still hoping for the best as the sanctions regimes began to unwind.
“If it rains, it’s raining everywhere,” he said. “If it is dark, wherever you go is dark. If they take these sanctions and lift them, obviously a lot of things change. I think hopefully things will get better.-WSJ
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