Iran can use Russian version of SWIFT; political analyst
Iranian political analyst remained optimistic about the future of the Russian-Iranian collaboration.
In an interview with ILNA news agency, Tehran-based political analyst Shoeib Bahman said that currently, both countries are poised to expand partnership in different area.
“The level of our country's economic relations with Russia is not high and also the political relations are not extensive, but we always have the expectation that Russia is constantly taking a stand in our favour that it does not meet the realities of the relations of the two countries,” he added.
He mentioned the great deal of attention Tehran and Moscow paid to technological and other exchanges between the two countries. “Our countries are acting fully in line with international agreements. There are countries which are willing to invest in Russia, sign contracts with it and supply equipment in line with international law and conventions. Iran is not an exception.”
Political analyst said that the other issue is Russian SWIFT; Moscow has set up a system similar to the SWIFT, and Russian financial institutions and banks based in several states are planning to participate in the Russian-developed money transfer network that serves as an alternative to the traditional SWIFT system.
Russian lawmakers backed the international use of a Russian alternative system for the global financial messaging network SWIFT designed by Moscow to eliminate the risk of Western sanctions.
“Russia has suggested the rest of the countries and large companies joining to this money transfer network, so when traditional SWIFT system is closed to Iran, Russian Swift can be one of our options for financial exchanges,” Shoeib Bahman concluded.
But he added that because of the Western view of our country's leaders, Iran has not yet been connected to the Russian SWIFT.
SWIFT, which stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, was founded in 1973 and connects more than 11,000 institutions in over 200 countries and territories, it said on its website.
Last year, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that his department is currently in talks to consider disconnecting Iran from the network.
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