Payment systems of Iran and Russia are connected and will be able to work without SWIFT

The banking payment systems of Iran and Russia are already connected to each other, they will soon be able to open accounts for companies in both countries and make payments without using SWIFT, Iranian Minister of Economy and Finance Ehsan Khanduzi said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“Today, the banking payment systems of Iran and Russia are already fully connected with each other. Soon the banks of both states, having created a legislative infrastructure, will be able to open accounts for their companies,” Handuzi said.

He also added that by removing barriers in foreign exchange transactions between the two countries, Tehran and Moscow will achieve the expansion of trade and economic relations.

“We will be able to integrate our banking platforms for making payments, without the need to use SWIFT and other banking systems for transmitting information and making payments,” the Iranian minister stressed.

Back in May 2022, Iran and the Russian Federation, having agreed to switch to mutual settlements in national currencies, discussed the connection of their payment systems – Mir and Shetab. At the end of January, representatives of the Central Banks of the two countries signed an agreement on work to simplify financial and banking operations. According to the head of the Iranian Central Bank Mohammad Reza FarzinaThe CBR financial messaging system has merged with the Central Bank of Iran’s SEPAM (System for Electronic Payments Messaging).

The need to unite the payment systems of the two countries appeared back in 2018, when Iran was disconnected from the SWIFT international transfer system. And in June 2022, due to the start of a special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, a number of Russian banks, such as Sberbank and VTB, were also disconnected from SWIFT.