Tehran, Iran – Iran and Russia linked their national payment systems on Monday, a significant move to bypass the US dollar in bilateral transactions, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.

The linkage between Russia’s Mir and Iran’s Shetab payment systems was established at a ceremony attended by Central Bank of Iran Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin and Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali.

The ceremony unveiled the first phase of the project, which enables Iranian citizens to use their bank cards to withdraw cash in rubles from Russian ATMs. In the second phase, Russian nationals will be able to withdraw cash in Iran. The final phase will allow Iranians to make purchases at Russian stores using point-of-sale devices with their bank cards, the report said.

According to a Fars news agency report, Farzin said, “Today, we take a big step towards the de-dollarisation and facilitation of economic relations between Iran and Russia.”

Iran and Russia, both under US sanctions, have recently expanded their political and economic relations, particularly in the banking sector to counter US restrictions.

 

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