Ali Divandari

Company: Bank Mellat
Position: Managing director

Biography: Ali Divandari is chairman and managing director of Iran’s government-owned Bank Mellat, which he joined in 1998 as head of research and development.

He was appointed to his current roles in 2006.

Divandari has been an associate professor at Tehran University since 1993. In November last year, the US Treasury imposed sanctions against the Malaysian subsidiary of Bank Mellat, First East Export Bank, for allegedly facilitating the movement of millions of dollars to support Iran’s nuclear programme.

At the same time, the US department imposed sanctions on Divandari, for acting on behalf of Bank Mellat. The move froze assets and banned Americans from doing business with both the bank and Divandari.

In 2008, Divandari rejected reports that Iranian banks were withdrawing their funds from Europe in anticipation of tightening sanctions.

Contact: (+98) 218 2961
Company website: http://en.bankmellat.ir/