SWIFT: Access of Several Iranian Banks Will Be Cut Off in the Next Two Days

Gottfried Leibbrandt, the CEO of SWIFT, the most important international money transfer network, announced on Friday, November 9, that access to this system for several Iranian banks will be cut off starting Saturday and Sunday of this week. Previously, SWIFT had announced on Monday that it would suspend cooperation with a number of Iranian banks to maintain the integrity and stability of the international financial system. SWIFT did not provide an explanation regarding the reason for cutting ties with Iranian banks. According to Reuters, Gottfried Leibbrandt, speaking at a conference in France, stated: 'Access for several Iranian banks will be cut off this weekend (Saturday and Sunday). This is truly regrettable; we are not allowed to be neutral.' He clarified, however, that this is a business decision and does not affect all banks. Leibbrandt mentioned that the names of these banks would be announced in the next two days. He refrained from commenting on the cutoff of the Central Bank of Iran's access to SWIFT. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced the complete cutoff of access for the Central Bank of Iran and U.S.-sanctioned financial institutions to the SWIFT interbank exchange network the day before. SWIFT, whose full name is the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is a secure messaging network for transferring money between banks worldwide. Without the services of this company, transactions for Iranian banks, even with clients willing to trade with them despite U.S. sanctions, will become more difficult. After the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers in 2015, some sanctions against Iranian banks and oil industries were lifted. However, following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA on May 8 of this year, these sanctions were reimposed on Monday. Steve Mnuchin had warned SWIFT last week that it must cut financial ties with all sanctioned names and entities, or else the organization could also face sanctions. In this context, the European Commission expressed regret over SWIFT's decision to suspend access for some Iranian banks to this system. Meanwhile, an unnamed EU representative told the Russian news agency TASS that cutting off Iranian banks' access to SWIFT 'could undermine the cohesion of the international financial system.' Additionally, U.S. lawmakers supporting Donald Trump had previously been working on a plan in this regard. According to this plan, if SWIFT does not cut off Iran's access to its system, the U.S. government would be obliged to impose sanctions on SWIFT members, including some American banks. According to the Associated Press, opponents of cutting off Iran's access to SWIFT in the U.S. argue that such an action could first make it harder to monitor Iran's transactions due to Iran's shift to alternative mechanisms, and second, make it more difficult for Iranians to access humanitarian goods, such as medicine.