Iran through the Russian interbank system connected to 106 foreign banks

Representatives of the Central Banks of Iran and Russia signed an agreement on work to simplify financial and banking operations. According to the chairman of the Iranian regulator Mohammad Reza Farzin, the Financial Messaging System (SPFS) of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has merged with SEPAM (System for Electronic Payments Messaging) of the Central Bank of Iran. This allowed Iran to connect to 106 non-Russian banks.

“A direct connection has been established between the banks of Iran and Russia. As part of the agreement on joint activities of the central banks of Iran and Russia, in addition to direct connection to Russian banks, Iran’s banking network will be directly connected to 106 foreign non-Russian banks,” Reza Farzin wrote on Twitter.

Iran was disconnected from the SWIFT system of international transfers back in November 2018. In June, as part of the sanctions due to the military operation in Ukraine, a number of Russian banks were disconnected from SWIFT, including Sberbank; VTB; Rosselkhozbank and others.

Director of the Russian Association of the Cryptoindustry and Blockchain Alexander Brazhnikov in a conversation with Vedomosti said that Iran and Russia are discussing the creation of a token that will replace the dollar, ruble and Iranian rial in foreign trade settlements. In addition, Iran is working on launching maps of the Russian Mir system.

Anastasia Larina