Tehran, Iran, Jan. 2
Trend:
Iran and Syria may run a joint financial channel.
Iran’s Ambassador in Damascus Javad Turk-Abadi announced the possible implementation of a financial channel between the two countries, Trend reports citing IBENA.
“It has been expected that Iranian citizens with [Shetab] banking cards can take out [Syrian] lira from ATMs in Syria, while the Syrian citizens can withdraw [Iranian] rial from Iranian banks,” Turk-Abadi said.
Shetab is an electronic banking system used in Iran. It was introduced in 2002 with the intention of creating a uniform backbone for the Iranian banking system to handle ATM, POS and other card-based transactions.
“The biggest obstacle is the necessary infrastructure in Syria to create banking relations with Iran,” he said. “The Shetab banking network is expected to operate after establishment of an infrastructure.”