Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Emphasizes: SWIFT Sanctions Have Been Lifted

In response to some "rumors" and "news dissemination," Hamid Baidi-Nejad, the Director General of Political and International Security at Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized on Tuesday that "SWIFT sanctions have been lifted." In an interview with the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) published on Tuesday, February 1, he criticized the "rumors" from some media regarding this issue. This member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team added: "Unfortunately, some media outlets are fueling rumors, including that Iranian banks are not supposed to connect directly to SWIFT and that even if they do, it will be through intermediary institutions." According to Baidi-Nejad, these reports are "completely untechnical, inaccurate, and a false rumor." He also advised the media outlets spreading these rumors to "not exacerbate this news dissemination and not tarnish their media credibility." Previously, media outlets like Kayhan newspaper and Rajanews website had reported that SWIFT sanctions remain in place due to "the non-lifting of the EU's sanction rules, and that this company has merely released a statement to specifically remove some Iranian banks from its sanctions list." According to this report, banks not mentioned in this statement, such as Sepah, Export, Mehr, and Ansar banks, will remain under sanctions. However, Hamid Baidi-Nejad stated that "the atmosphere created under the influence of these rumors in Iranian media has unfortunately put psychological pressure on our banks, especially the Central Bank," adding that this atmosphere has "also exerted political pressure on SWIFT, which has even caused dissatisfaction among SWIFT officials." The Director General of Political and International Security at Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized: "There is no political problem hindering the lifting of SWIFT sanctions on Iranian banks, and banks are able to use SWIFT services directly." Baidi-Nejad also mentioned that "this path requires patience and should avoid any psychological pressure and media hype." The Central Bank of Iran announced that Iranian banks reconnected to SWIFT on Monday, January 31. However, according to the Central Bank's IT Director, it will take about two to three days, at most a week, for banks to utilize this capability after completing the necessary processes. SWIFT is a system for transferring messages between banks and financial institutions in the international community. On March 17, 2012, in a joint meeting of representatives from EU member countries and the SWIFT management council, this institution removed Iranian banks from its international networks due to allegations of their involvement in violating EU sanctions against Iran.