The Imperial Bank of Persia () was a British bank that operated as the state bank and bank of issue in Iran (formerly known as Persia until 1935) between 1889 and 1929. It was established in 1885 with a concession from the Persian government to Baron Julius De Reuter (born Israel Beer Josaphat) a German–Jewish banker and businessman who later became a Christian and a British subject. The bank was the first modern bank in Iran and introduced European banking ideas to a country in which they were previously unknown. The legal centre of the bank was in London and whilst it was subject to British law, its activities were based in Tehran. It also had operations in other Middle Eastern countries. It was later named British Bank of the Middle East (BBME) and is now called HSBC Bank Middle East Limited. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, all the Iranian activities of this bank were transferred to Bank Tejarat. Background and history Nineteenth-century Iran has been described as "one of the most backward countries in the world." As usury was forbidden under Islam, the traditional money lenders in Iran were the Jewish sarrafs, who continued to dominate the field after the Imperial Bank's arrival due to greater loan flexibility and cultural ties. At the time the only form of money in circulation was gold and silver coins. Reuter was granted the Reuter concession in 1872 which granted him exclusive rights over virtually all the resources in the land of Persia. While the real reason Reuter wanted the concession was in order to develop the railroad in Persia, it also gave him monopoly over banking for sixty years. The concession was hidden from the British government till the last minute, and alarmed both the British and Russian governments upon its revealing. The concession was resented by the local population, which protested that the Shah had granted all the resources of the land to a foreigner and by Russians who saw the British competing with their interest in Persia. Due to mounting pressure, the Shah subsequently cancelled the concession in 1873, citing the fact that Reuter failed to initiate the railway project within 15 months. Reuter was not to go down without a fight. However it was not until 1889 that he was able to get exclusive banking and mining rights for sixty years. Although this new concession was not as