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ATMs of the Melli Bank in Tehran: In future, money can be withdrawn here with Mir cards
Photo:
ATTA KENARE / AFP
Since Russia has been sanctioned by Western countries for its attack on Ukraine, the country has been trying to establish close ties with other countries, such as Iran.
The Kremlin in Tehran has now succeeded in trying to establish new economic and diplomatic partnerships.
The Russian payment system Mir is to be introduced in Iran.
This was announced by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari, as reported by the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.
"I think this payment system will be activated in Iran soon," Safari was quoted as saying.
Due to international sanctions, Iran and Russia are both largely excluded from international payment transactions.
Business people often have to bring large sums of cash with them to invest in Iran.
Alternative to SWIFT planned
This makes Iran the latest country to introduce the Russian alternative to Visa and Mastercard.
South Korea and Cuba have also recently accepted Mir, which means both "peace" and "world" in Russian.
The United Arab Emirates also intends to accept the card soon.
The cards also work in the popular travel destinations of Turkey and Vietnam, as well as some former Soviet republics.
After the attack on Ukraine, the West imposed sanctions on Russia in the financial sector, among other things.
Many financial institutions have been excluded from the banking communications network Swift.
The world's largest credit card operators Visa and Mastercard suspended their business in Russia.
Russian cards issued by Visa and Mastercard no longer work abroad after the world's two largest payment networks went out of business in early March.
Russia then pushed ahead with the use of its own Mir system, which was launched a few years ago.
Both Russia and Iran are subject to severe US and European Union sanctions that have barred them from accessing vital parts of the global financial infrastructure.
According to Safari, both countries are therefore also working on creating a competitor for the SWIFT payment transaction service, which supports cross-border payments in the global economy.
Khamenei wants to weaken the dollar as an international means of payment
Several Russian banks have been banned from the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication since February 24, which facilitates cross-border payments.
A few weeks ago, the powerful Sberbank, Russia's largest financial institution, was also excluded from the system.
Iran has also been excluded since the country was hit by sanctions over its nuclear program.
"Countries that want to de-dollarize their transactions need a special system similar to SWIFT," said Safari, explaining the plans, according to Ria.
“The Iranian and Russian sides have each proposed an option.
We have reached a very good agreement on the basis of which we can carry out currency transactions between the two countries.«
Just over a week ago, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stressed during a visit by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin that Tehran and Moscow had to work together on Western sanctions.
Khamenei also called for the dollar to be weakened as an international currency.
Apr/dpa/Reuters