Russian banks enter into financial cooperation with Iran
Russian banks enter into financial cooperation with Iran
2026-05-16
Shafaq News – Tehran
The former head of Iran’s Trade Development Organization, Peyman Pak, announced on Saturday that a number of major Russian banks, including Sberbank and VTB Bank, have established active correspondent accounts with the Central Bank of Iran and banks operating in the country.
Fars News Agency quoted Pak as saying that the assets of these banks range between $400 and $500 billion for each bank, which is almost double the total assets of Iranian banks, providing a great capacity to expand financial exchanges between the two sides.
He added that linking the Iranian financial payment system “SPAM” to the Russian SPFS network contributed to reducing the time required for currency transfers for traders from several months to about 48 hours, which led to a significant increase in the volume of cash exchanges.
The financial cooperation between the two sides comes at a time when the US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on Monday related to Iran, targeting individuals and companies run from several countries, including China.
On April 28, 2026, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against 35 entities and individuals in Iran for helping them evade sanctions.
shafaq.com
