In an interview with German daily Bild quoted by Reuters, Richard Grenell expressed Washington’s grave concern with regard to Tehran's bid to transfer the money to Iran, saying, "We encourage the highest levels of the German government to intervene and stop the plan."

On Monday, a German Finance Ministry spokeswoman said the country is examining Iran’s request to withdraw the funds from the Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG (eihbank) in order to satisfy part of its foreign currency needs when fresh US sanctions against its financial sector take effect.

According to a report by Bild, Iran had told the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) that it needed the cash from the accounts "to pass on to Iranian citizens who require cash while travelling abroad, given their inability to access recognized credit cards".

In an interview with German daily Bild quoted by Reuters, Richard Grenell expressed Washington’s grave concern with regard to Tehran's bid to transfer the money to Iran, saying, "We encourage the highest levels of the German government to intervene and stop the plan."

On Monday, a German Finance Ministry spokeswoman said the country is examining Iran’s request to withdraw the funds from the Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG (eihbank) in order to satisfy part of its foreign currency needs when fresh US sanctions against its financial sector take effect.

According to a report by Bild, Iran had told the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) that it needed the cash from the accounts "to pass on to Iranian citizens who require cash while travelling abroad, given their inability to access recognized credit cards".