Above photo: Sputnik/Aleksey Filippov.
Tehran and Moscow have been discussing linking payment systems for the past two years.
It is part of efforts to circumvent western sanctions against both countries.
Iranian and Russian card payment systems were formally linked on 11 November, coming as the two nations have been working together to circumvent economic sanctions imposed by Washington and the west.
The announcement was made on Monday during a ceremony attended by the Governor of Iran’s Central Bank Mohammad-Reza Farzin.
During the ceremony, “a previous agreement on the connection of Iran’s Shetab and Russia’s Mir card payment systems for electronic fund transfers took effect,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
“The two domestic payment systems have been interconnected following the finalization of plans in the wake of a meeting with Russian Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina on the sidelines of the Financial Congress of the Bank of Russia in St. Petersburg in July,” Farzin said.
Travelers making visits between the two nations will be able to use their local debit cards for purchases.
In the first phase, Iranian nationals visiting Russia will use Shetab cards to withdraw rubles under the Kahroba smart debit card system. Russian travelers will then be able to use their Mir cards in the Islamic Republic.
Following this, Iranian citizens will be allowed to use Shetab cards at Point of Sale (POS) terminals across Russia.
Over the past two years, Moscow and Tehran have been pursuing efforts to circumvent western sanctions. Discussions on linking card payment systems have been ongoing since 2022.
In January this year, Iran was among several countries that joined the BRICS group of emerging economies, which is quickly expanding as an alternative to the western economic system.
Defense cooperation between the two states has also surged.
The linking of the payment systems comes a week after Donald Trump was announced as the winner of the 2024 US presidential election. During his first term as president years ago, Trump initiated a “maximum pressure” policy of harsh economic sanctions against Iran.
Trump plans to “drastically increase sanctions on Iran and throttle its oil sales as part of an aggressive strategy,” Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on 8 November.
“It’s going to be maximum pressure 2.0,” said Robert McNally, a former US energy official.