News

The U.S. government has forced Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank to stop channeling billions of dollars from Iranian oil sales through its accounts, part of Western measures to curb Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported that Noor had agreed in mid-December to close what people briefed on the operation characterized as Iran's single largest channel for repatriating foreign currency oil receipts.

The paper said the bank had facilitated as much as 60 percent of Iran's foreign oil sales - estimated at $80 billion - by late last year.

"The bank (Noor) made so much money out of this that they just milked it," the source said, suggesting it had handled tens of billions of dollars.