Iranian Finance Minister Khandouzi: Iran and Russia’s payment systems are interconnected

TEHRAN, March 21 – RIA Novosti. Ehsan Khanduzi, Iranian Minister of Economy and Finance, said in an interview with RIA Novosti that the banking payment systems of Iran and Russia are already interconnected, soon they will be able to open accounts for companies in both countries and make payments without using SWIFT. .

“Today, the banking payment systems of Iran and Russia are already fully interconnected. Soon, the banks of both countries, which have established a legal infrastructure, will be able to open accounts for their companies,” Khanduzi said.

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

“We will be able to integrate our banking platforms to make payments without the need to use SWIFT and other banking systems to transmit information and make payments,” the Iranian minister said.

In May 2022, Iran and the Russian Federation discussed the link between the payment systems Mir and Shetab, agreeing to switch to mutual payments in their national currencies. At the end of January, representatives of the Central Banks of the two countries signed an agreement on efforts to simplify financial and banking operations. According to Mohammad Reza Farzin, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, the Financial Messaging System of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has merged with the SEPAM (Electronic Payments Messaging System) of the Central Bank of Iran.

The need to combine the payment systems of the two countries emerged in 2018, when Iran left 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.