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Ecuador Allowing Iran to Evade Sanctions
(Telegraph-UK) Philip Sherwell - Documents obtained by the Sunday Telegraph in Quito last week reveal detailed plans to establish substantial banking mechanisms between Ecuador and Iran, even though they have only the tiniest of trade links. The new financial ties have prompted suspicions that the real intention is to help Tehran circumvent sanctions by channeling funds through Quito. Ecuador has used the U.S. dollar as its own currency since a 2000 financial crisis brought the country to its knees. So any deal would give Iran, which is being choked of access to U.S. dollars by international sanctions, immediate access to America's financial backyard. Roger Noriega, a former U.S. ambassador who now monitors Latin America at the American Enterprise Institute, said "these suspicious transactions with Iran should be investigated by the United States and the United Nations."