Iranian and Russian banking messaging systems are now connected, making them able to ditch using the US-dominated SWIFT channel, Iran’s central bank governor said on Tuesday.
“Using this system for transactions with member states of the Eurasian Economic Unión can help develop trade ties between them,” said Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati on Tuesday, referring to Iran’s accession to a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) with the five-member regional economic entity.
The Iranian banking messaging channel is called SEPAM.
Hemmati made the remark after a meeting between Iranian and Russian presidents Hassan Rouhani and Vladimir Putin in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday.
The decision to create a separate banking messaging channel comes after the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, known as SWIFT, announced in November that it would sever ties with individual Iran-based banks for the sake of the "global stability of the system," without elaborating.
Iran will enter a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Eurasian Economic Unión on 28 November.