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Joint Iran-Russia bank to strengthen local currencies, boost trade: official

Xinhua, September 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iran and Russia are working on opening a joint bank in a move to help strengthen their currencies and boost their mutual trade, Bahram Amirahmadiyan of the Russia-Iran Friendship Society said on Thursday.

"Currently, there is no Russian bank in Iran, and the Russian currency is not very well known on Iran's market," Amirahmadiyan was quoted as saying by Press TV.

"Also, opening Russian banks in Iran will lead to more currency operations and the strengthening of Russian ruble," he said.

The same holds true for Iranian rial in Russia, he said, adding that "that's why we are waiting impatiently for this initiative to go ahead."

The idea of establishing joint Iran-Russia bank was put forward in October 2014, when head of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce Asadollah Asgaroladi said that Iran and Russia were planning to establish a joint bank to multiply bilateral trade and bypass sanctions against the Islamic republic's banking sector.

The establishment of possible Iran-Russia bank would open a new chapter in bilateral trade relations that could break the domination of Western currencies over bilateral financial exchanges, Asgaroladi said.

On Monday, Amirahmadiyan said that Iranian and Russian traders prefer to carry out their trade operations in their national currencies, which can also widen and improve economic cooperation between the two countries.

"At the moment, all banking operations between Russia and Iran are carried out in U.S. dollars or euros. It's very inconvenient, because all these operations are controlled either by the EU or the U.S. central banks," he said.

"Also, the key problem in the way of increasing the volume of trade between the two countries is the lack of a single joint banking mechanism. The Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce is actively working on opening a joint Russian-Iranian bank," Amirahmadiyan was quoted as saying. Endit