Global Trade Review, London, 15 May 2023) UK Export Finance (UKEF) and defence giant BAE Systems have struck a last-minute out of court deal to settle a £13.9mn claim by the government agency over guarantees for missile systems sold to Iran in the 1970s. In around 1980, export credit agency UKEF paid a claim under a policy covering contracts for the supply and maintenance of the Rapier surface-to-air missile system, a deal which fell apart in the wake of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. A UKEF spokesperson later confirmed to GTR that a deal was struck and the trial averted, but did not provide details of the settlement. Court documents show that UKEF paid BAE (then BAC) £27.3mn under guarantees issued between 1973 and 1977, when Iran was ruled by Western-backed autocrat Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. But in 1991, Iran’s defence ministry launched arbitration proceedings in The Hague against BAE for alleged non-performance of defence contracts, which triggered a counterclaim by the UK firm. Almost two decades later the arbitration panel awarded BAE £28.8mn from the Iranian defence ministry, while Iran was awarded an undisclosed “greater amount” from BAE in relation to other contracts not covered by the UK government guarantees. BAE has historically been a major purchaser of UKEF’s export credit products. Between 2018 and 2022 alone, UKEF extended £3.5bn in support to BAE through direct lending and buyer’s credit, according to the agency’s data.
Iran
Five decades later, UKEF-backed Iran missiles deal lands in court
Global Trade Review, London, 17 April 2023) UKEF is suing BAE Systems, one of its biggest clients, over contracts for the supply of missiles to Iran in the 1970s. The UK’s export credit agency is trying to recover £13.9mn it paid to the defence and aerospace giant in the 1980s, under three export credit insurance policies issued between 1973 and 1977. A trial is set for London’s High Court on May 8. The government guaranteed contracts for the supply of weapons, spares and maintenance for BAC’s Rapier surface-to-air missile systems to Iran, then led by the Western-backed autocrat Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. In around 1980, BAC called on the guarantees due to “their Iranian counterparty’s non-performance” under the contracts, according to UKEF’s statement of claim in the case. The document does not describe the reason the contracts fell apart but in 1979 the Shah was overthrown by a popular uprising that became the Islamic Revolution, and was replaced by a clerical regime hostile to the UK.
Germany suspends ECA guarantees for business with Iran amid protests
(Big News Network, Berlin, 29 December 2022) Germany announced that it is formally suspending export credits and investment guarantees for business in Iran, after the brutal crackdown on protests by authorities in Tehran. The instruments suspended are export credit guarantees, which protect German companies from losses due to unpaid exports, as well as investment guarantees, which aim to protect direct investments by German companies from political risk. These instruments for projects in Iran were suspended for decades until there was a “short phase of opening” from 2016, as a result of Iran’s agreement with world powers, including Germany, on its nuclear program, the ministry said.
Iranian & Russian ECAs ink agreement to facilitate trade
(Tehran Times, Tehran, 10 September 2022) The Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) has signed an agreement with the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR) with the aim of facilitating exports and providing the necessary guarantees for the development of trade between the two countries. According to Peyman-Pak of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization,, the agreement is signed with the aim of helping the traders of the two countries to use export insurance as an alternative to letters of credit (LC) and to reduce the risk of trade between the two countries. Emphasizing that the agreement has no credit limit and the signatories can issue guarantees up to one billion dollars, Peyman-Pak said: “This achievement has been made in line with the efforts of Trade Promotion Organization and Export Guarantee Fund of Iran to facilitate trade between the two countries of Iran and Russia.” It is not know if this agreement could include cover for Iran’s alledged sale of military drones to Russia.
Iran expected to ink agreement with Russian ECA soon
(Tehran Times, Tehran, 26 August 2022) The Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) has urged Russia to take the necessary measures for signing an agreement between Export Guarantee Fund of Iran and the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR) in the coming weeks. He also announced Iran’s readiness to establish banking relations with Eximbank of Russia and emphasized that Iran is ready to use all the banking capacities of the two countries in order to facilitate the financial transactions between the two sides in a meeting with Director-General of Russian Export Center Veronika Nikishina in Moscow. Nikishina for her part welcomed the Iranian side’s proposals, saying: “We gladly join the actions and decisions that are being made because we want to create acceptable conditions for expanding business in a competitive financial environment.” Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported on August 29 that Russian cargo planes quietly picked up the first of scores of Iranian-made combat drones for use against Ukraine, in a move that underscores deepening ties between Moscow and Tehran while also highlighting Russia’s struggles to supply its overstretched military. The Financial Tribune of Iran reported on August 30 that a 125-strong business delegation from Russia made up of representatives of 78 companies are scheduled to visit Tehran from Sept. 19-21 to meet their Iranian counterparts and survey ways of expanding bilateral cooperation.
Iran’s ECA Covers $1b Exports in 5 Months
(Financial Tribune, Tehran, 1 September 2019) The Export Guarantee Fund of Iran covered non-oil exports worth $1 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year (started in mid-March), head of EGFI said.The figure shows 60% growth in the export credit agency insurance cover compared to the similar period last year, according to EGFI website.EGFI expects to increase coverage to $2.5 billion by the end of this fiscal year [March 2020), Afrouz Bahrami told a seminar on promoting exports during sanctions. According to media reports, EGFI is able to cover export risk to the tune of $2.3 billion or 5% of the Iran’s $40 billion non-oil export market. She ascribed the significant growth in the performance of EGFI to increase in the number of applications for covering risk emanated from US sanctions, diversification of guarantee services, customizing services to make them compatible with expert requirements and rising promotional activity of the fund.
Iran’s Private Firms Want Stronger Export Credit Agency
(Financial Tribune, Tehran, 17 August 2019) In a letter to President Hassan Rouhani, private sector representatives have called on government to give more authority to the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran with regard to issuing export guarantees, according to the EGFI chief. The export credit agency says it can provide export guarantees to non-oil exporters to substitute banks’ letters of credit at a time when the economy is saddled with mounting economic and banking restrictions imposed by the United States.
Riyadh aims to counter Tehran’s influence with Iraq ECA credits
(Financial Times, Riyadh, 4 April 2019) Saudi Arabia is intensifying diplomatic efforts to boost ties with Iraq, as the kingdom aims to strengthen its influence on regional rival Iran’s doorstep. The kingdom’s harsh treatment of Shia clerics sparked demonstrations in Iraq, and many Iraqis blamed Saudi Arabia for fuelling hardline Sunni Islamist ideology that gave rise to the Isis extremist group. However, since 2016, Riyadh has taken a more nuanced view of Iraqi politics that aims at chipping away at Iranian influence by denying Tehran the sectarian card. Saudi officials arrived in the Iraqi capital this week, wielding a $1bn grant for a sports stadium. Last year the Saudis pledged a $1bn loan for reconstruction in Iraq, plus $500m in export credit.
Iran’s ECA Reassures Foreign Trade Partners
(Financial Tribune, Tehran, 30 April 2019) CEO of the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran says the fund has taken special measures to shield exports from the negative impact of US sanctions. “In light of the new US sanctions and the fact that foreign traders do not receive Iranian bank [export] guarantees, the fund is willing and able to cover the commercial risks for exporters,” she noted. The EGFI said earlier that it wants to expand risk cover for export insurance by $2.5 billion in the current fiscal (started March 21) and increase the penetration rate of export guarantees.
Middle East Politics and Export Credits
(Washington Post, Berlin, 31 October 2018) At the end of last year, the Danish Export Credit Agency had approved eight Iranian banks for credit lines or guarantees and vowed to resist U.S. pressure to dismantle those ties. However, Denmark is now leading a push for new E.U. sanctions against Iran, after its intelligence agencies blamed Tehran for a foiled plot to assassinate an Iranian dissident on Danish soil. In a darkly ironic twist, Iran has condemned the Saudi killing of dissident Khashoggi even as it has a long track record of pursuing operations against opponents living abroad itself. The Jerusalem Post on 6 November noted that the German government defied US sanctions on Iran’s clerical regime on Monday 5 November, by continuing to insure its companies with export credit – 911 million euro for 58 companies.
