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Source: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1642206
IMF Loan Request Exposes Severity of Iran's Financial Crisis
(Arab News-Saudi Arabia) Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami - Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has never asked the IMF for help and has criticized it for ideological reasons. Now the coronavirus outbreak has aggravated Iran's existing economic woes. It has led to a collapse in Iran's hard currency income, with the country's tourism sector coming to a halt and cross-border trade between Iran and neighboring nations, including Iraq, being suspended. Iran has changed its policy of not seeking help from the IMF because the country is unable to withdraw the $5 billion it needs from its National Development Fund (NDF). Perhaps it would be more useful if the IMF supplied medicine and medical equipment instead of agreeing to a $5 billion loan. This would ensure that no money is diverted to financing Iran's regional projects or its ballistic missile/nuclear program. The writer heads Rasanah: The International Institute for Iranian Studies in Saudi Arabia.