Marti

"Swiss businesses are eager to get a foothold in the Iranian market now that most trade sanctions have been lifted, but restrictions still in place from the United States are creating major money transfer problems. On a Tuesday afternoon in Bern, a hotel conference room is packed with business representatives. Participants sit up in their seats and murmur their interest as several speakers tell them about the opportunities that abound in the Iranian market... But reality hits when a representative from Bern’s cantonal bank gets up to answer a key question: how is the situation looking for businesses who want to transfer money from Iran to Switzerland, or vice versa? 'The situation looks bad,' he said frankly. 'We follow international financial rules and we have been told to wait. At the moment, I don’t see many opportunities to make payments to Iran.' ... Touraj Etezady, who has done business in Iran together with the Marti construction group, agreed that 'unfortunately financial transactions are very difficult' and that this was an issue raised many times when a delegation of Swiss politicians and business leaders travelled to Iran in February along with Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann." (Swissinfo, “Swiss businesses are ready for Iran, but banks aren’t,” 4/12/2016)

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In April 2016, reports emerged hinting at Marti’s business engagement in Iran. Discussing the difficulties associated with doing business in Iran, “Touraj Etezady, who has done business in Iran together with the Marti construction group, agreed that ‘unfortunately financial transactions are very difficult.’” (Swissinfo, “Swiss businesses are ready for Iran, but banks aren’t,” 4/12/2016).