Iran and Russia have linked banking systems in attempt to replace SWIFT, - Reuters
Iran and Russia connected their banking systems amid the SWIFT shutdown. Now they use their own system to transmit interbank messages.
Iranian high-ranking officials told Reuters about this, Censor.NET informs with reference to Hromadske.
"Iranian banks no longer need to use SWIFT with Russian banks, which can be used for letters of credit, transfers or guarantees," said Mohsen Karimi, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Iran.
Mohsen Karimi said that about 700 Russian banks and 106 non-Russian banks from 13 different countries will be connected to this system, without specifying the names of the foreign banks.
The head of Iran's central bank, Mohammad Farzin, welcomed the move and wrote on Twitter that the financial channel between Iran and the world is being restored.
In turn, the Central Bank of Russia refused to comment on the agreement.
Iran was cut off from the SWIFT financial messaging service in 2018. This happened after Washington abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal. Similar restrictions were imposed on some Russian banks after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
