Turkiye has revoked the operating licence of Iran’s Bank Mellat for its activities in Istanbul, effectively ending the lender’s authorised presence in the Turkish city. The move removes the bank’s formal permission to conduct its Istanbul-based operations.
Bank Mellat has for years been the target of Western sanctions amid allegations of connections to Iran’s nuclear programme, a record that has constrained its ability to operate internationally. Those sanctions have previously led to limits on the bank’s access to global financial markets and correspondent banking relationships.
The revocation of the Istanbul licence will further restrict Bank Mellat’s capacity to provide services in Turkey and could complicate financial arrangements for customers who relied on its local operations. Such a step may also affect trade and remittance channels that used the bank’s Istanbul presence as a conduit for cross-border transactions.
The decision comes against a backdrop of ongoing scrutiny of Iranian financial institutions by multiple international actors. While Turkiye and Iran maintain political and economic ties, moves that narrow the footprint of Iranian banks abroad highlight the continuing financial frictions that accompany sanctions and geopolitical tensions.