Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 23
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Switzerland has established an independent payment channel to continue trading with Iran, Head of Joint Chamber of Commerce of Iran-Switzerland Sharif Nezam Mafi said, Trend reports via IRNA.
Mafi announced that the financial mechanism of the two countries is ready for implementation.
He noted that the Swiss government has designated the operating bank but hasn’t yet formally announced its name.
He pointed to the need to inject money into the Switzerland’s financial channel, and said that there is no Iranian money in Europe, most of it is in India, China and South Korea, which are importing Iran’s crude.
If Iranian oil money flows from Asia to Europe, the Swiss payment channel will begin operating immediately, he said.
He added that during the previous period when Switzerland intended to launch a similar financial channel, a 24-hour window was given to banks that had received the permission for transferring Iranian money from Japan to Switzerland.
Mafi noted that in the past, the US Treasury Department issued the necessary permits, and now the transfer of money requires US approval, a matter that has been the focus of negotiations between the Swiss government and the US government in recent months.
He said the time hasn’t been set to launch the Swiss payment mechanism, but everything is waiting for the money to come from Iran to this financial mechanism.
