The US plans to block Iran's requested $5 billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund for funding Tehran says it needs to fight its coronavirus crisis, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Senior officials in the Trump administration said Iran's government has billion-dollar accounts still at its disposal. If allowed to tap IMF financing, the officials said, Tehran would then be able to divert those or other funds to help its economy, which has been weakened by U.S. sanctions, or finance militants in the Middle East, rather than on containing the pandemic.
The IMF, which is facing urgent funding requests from scores of governments, said it is in talks with Tehran to determine its eligibility for an emergency loan.
The source reminds that as the IMF's largest shareholder, the US largely determines the fate of bailout requests, though technically IMF member countries could amass a majority of votes to approve Iran's loan even with U.S. opposition.
