By Daliah Merzaban
MANAMA (Reuters) - U.S. allies such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are helping shield Iran's banking system from Washington's "financial terrorism", the governor of Iran's central bank said on Tuesday.
The United States has been trying to cut Iran's access to the global financial system, including by putting pressure on Gulf Arab governments to isolate Iran, which it accuses of seeking nuclear weapons.
The pressure is not working because cultural, political and economic ties between Gulf oil producers were too strong, Tahmasb Mazaheri told the Reuters Islamic Finance Summit.
"Neither us nor our neighbors will sacrifice our long-term interests because of the unilateral pressures," Mazaheri said.
"Particularly in the region, Bahrain and the Emirates and other neighbors all around Iran's borders, we have a lot of partners who are working with us in the long term," he said.
He did not explain what form their assistance took.
Iran, which denies the nuclear charges, has long had close economic ties with Gulf states, especially in the UAE and Bahrain, Arab allies of Washington and home to the Middle East's biggest financial centers.
Even so, banks in the world's top oil-exporting region have bowed to pressure from the United States to make doing business with the Islamic Republic more difficult. Continued...
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