TEHRAN (Satrapia) — The President of the Iran Chamber of Commerce of Iran and Switzerland, Sharif Nezam Mafi, has announced the preparation of a special payment mechanism with Iran.

He stressed the need for transfers through Swiss financial channels and said that “at present, Europe does not hold any funds belonging to Iran, most of its money being in oil-importing countries, i.e. India, China and South Korea.” According to him, if Iranian oil revenues go from Asia to Europe, the Swiss financial channel will start immediately.

The President of the Common Chamber of Commerce pointed out that “the launch date has not yet been announced, but everyone is waiting for Iran to transfer money to this financial mechanism.” “In the previous round of US sanctions, when Switzerland was considering launching a similar financial channel, banks allowed to transfer Iranian money were specified within 24 hours”, he added. According to Nezam Mafi, the Swiss government has appointed a specific bank for this purpose, but has not yet officially announced its name.

Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in September that the participants in the Iranian nuclear agreement intended to create a special mechanism for settlements with Tehran as part of the restoration of US sanctions. According to Mogherini, at the level of European Union countries, the decision to create such a mechanism has already been taken so that other States can then join its work.