Iranian Ambassador to Russian Federation Kazem Jalali said on Friday that the two countries of Iran and Russia have started working together to connect their interbank systems to circumvent Swift's financial transaction network.
Both countries face severe Western sanctions, making it virtually difficult or impossible to settle their trade accounts through Swift, Jalali emphasized.
"We are working in this direction and we have taken many steps in this regard," he continued.
Last month, seven Russian banks parted from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial System), making it virtually impossible for them to access international markets, he said, adding that this prohibition is a part of the latest Western sanctions targeting Russia over its military operation against Ukraine.
Russia has its own payment mechanism called Financial Transfer System (SPFS), which has a similar function to Swift and allows the transfer of messages in the form of SWIFT. This financial transaction network was created as a replacement for Swift and has been developed by the Bank of Russia since 2014.
Russia has its own payment mechanism called Financial Messaging System of Bank of Russia (SPFS) which has a similar function to Swift and allows transfer of messages in the form of SWIFT, Jalali added.
Although Russian financial messenger is still weak, about 40 to 50 countries work with it and are members of this system.
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