THE ENEMY WITHIN

Trump Rented Space to Outlawed Iranian Bank Linked to Terrorism

On NYC’s Fifth Avenue for years during embargo.

Donald Trump’s company did business with an Iranian bank that has been linked to terrorist groups, according to a report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Public records obtained by the ICIJ show the Trump Organization rented Bank Melli several floors of New York office space from 1998 to 2003. The bank remained a tenant of Trump’s for years after the U.S. Treasury Department declared it to be controlled by the Iranian government in 1999. Bank Melli has been accused of helping to obtain materials for Iran’s nuclear program and funneling money to a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that has allegedly sponsored terrorist attacks. Those reported activities came as the Bank Melli rented office space in Fifth Avenue’s GM Building from Trump as well as the U.S. government’s embargo, which forbade Americans from doing business with Iran. Some organizations were given exemption licenses, but it’s not clear if that was the case in Trump’s case.