Donald Trump’s real estate organization did business with an Iranian bank that U.S. authorities have linked to terrorist groups and Iran’s nuclear program, according to a new report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the same organization which released the Panama Papers.
According to ICIJ report, The Trump Organization rented office space in New York City to Bank Melli – one of Iran’s largest state-controlled banks – from 1998 to 2003.
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Citing public records, the report states the Trump Organization kept the bank on as tenant for four more years after the U.S. government declared Bank Melli was controlled by the Iranian government.
In 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department revealed that Bank Melli had been used to facilitate “numerous purchases of sensitive materials” to facilitate Iran’s nuclear programs.
Between 2002 and 2006, the Iranian bank also sent at least $100 million to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, according to the ICIJ report.
Trump has repeatedly condemned Iran’s nuclear program on the campaign trail, calling the country “a big enemy” and blasting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s involvement in the Iran nuclear deal. Trump blasted the 2015 deal during last week’s presidential debate, calling it “one of the worst deals ever made by any country in history.” The deal was designed to keep Iran from developing enough material for a nuclear weapon for at least ten years.
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Trump also slammed Clinton after Iran Air struck an agreement to buy aircraft from Boeing, which has contributed to the Clinton Foundation.
“It’s a pretty hypocritical position to take,” Richard Nephew, who served as principal deputy coordinator of sanctions policy at the U.S. State Department, said in the ICIJ report.
“It suggests that his principles are pretty flexible when it comes to him getting paid.”
Last week, the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran downplayed concerns that, if elected, Trump might turn his back on the nuclear accord.
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“I think whoever gets into the … office of the president in the United States will have to move according to the realities on the ground,” he told a panel discussion in Vienna.
The Trump campaign declined to comment specifically on Bank Melli; however, a spokesperson told the ICIJ that if elected Trump would “take steps to avoid any conflicts of interest with his business dealings.”
According to the report, it’s not clear whether the Trump Organization could face any legal ramifications for doing business with Bank Melli.
The ICIJ report notes at the time the U.S. had an embargo in place preventing Americans from doing business with Iran, including receiving rent payments, but some organizations were granted licenses exempting specific transactions.
“The Treasury Department, the Trump campaign and Bank Melli all declined to answer whether the agency had issued a license to the Trump Organization or the bank permitting rent payments during Trump’s ownership of the building,” read the report.
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