Iranian President Ahmadinejad
Photo: AFP
Iran announces SWIFT replacement
Islamic Republic says it founded independent financial transaction service to replace global group, which cut it off in March
Fighting the financial sanctions: Iran
announced Sunday that is has formed an independent financial transaction service to replace SWIFT services.
The Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication cut its ties with Iranian banks in mid March.
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SWIFT handles over 80% of the world's financial transactions, conducted by over 9,000 institutions. Its global reach meant that its decision would apply significant pressure on the Iranian banking system.
As it is nearly impossible to operate in the business world without SWIFT's services, the measure was considered as a major step towards Tehran's global isolation.
Iran's announcement was received as yet another attempt by the Islamic Republic to circumvent the financial sanction imposed on it by the West, over its refusal to suspend its nuclear program.
Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Mahmoud Bahmani told the state-run Press TV news agency that the system was in place and "fully operational."
