Iran, Russia to create joint interbank payment system: Diplomat

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Iran and Russia are working on the creation of a joint interbank payment system, similar to SWIFT, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari told Sputnik.

"Naturally, two countries that want to de-dollarize their transactions must have a special system similar to SWIFT," Safari said.

The Iranian official explained that "the Iranian and Russian sides each proposed one version of such a system. Now, we have practically reached a very good agreement, on the basis of which we could carry out currency transactions between the two countries."

Safari indicated that the Russian Mir payment system will soon be launched in Iran, noting that there are agreements on the matter.

It is noteworthy that in mid-July, the head of the Central Bank of Iran, Ali Salehabadi, said he hopes to implement the interbank cooperation memorandums that were signed with Russia, just after meetings with Russian officials in July 7-8. 

The Russian Kremlin previously highlighted that the cooperation between Russia and Iran is growing, noting that the net trade between the two countries grew 31% over the past few months.

At the same time, Moscow added that Russia and the Islamic Republic will gradually abandon the practice of using US dollars to measure bilateral trade.

In mid-July, Russian state-owned company Rostec announced that its alternative solution to SWIFT based on blockchain technology is now ready for testing.

Last February, Russian banks were excluded from the SWIFT interbank payment system by the decision of the European Commission and its allies.

The maneuver was intended to hit the country's banking network and its access to funds via SWIFT, which is pivotal for the smooth transaction of money worldwide.

This type of solution already exists, particularly in China. The country launched its international interbank payment system in 2015, called CIPS.