Iran and Turkey have reached an agreement based on which the Central Bank of Turkey will upgrade banking relations between the two countries to pre-sanctions levels, a sign of normalizing banking ties after the lifting of sanctions.
In a meeting between Ebrahim Taherian Fard, Iranian ambassador to Turkey and Murat Çetinkaya, the newly-appointed governor of the Central Bank of Turkey it was agreed that the accounts of the Central Bank of Iran with its Turkish counterpart be reactivated with transactions being conducted normally.
The formation of a joint banking committee consisting of banking unions from Iran and Turkey was among other issues discussed between the two sides at the 25th Joint Iran-Turkey Economic Commission, IRNA reported.
Organizing banking training sessions in Turkey, developing joint banking activities, deciding the date for a Turkish banking delegation's visit to Tehran and the necessity of removing obstacles to banking were on the agenda.
Hossein Yaqoubi, CBI’s managing director for international affairs said about Bank Mellat's activities in Turkey that the "Central Bank of Turkey has announced that three branches of Bank Mellat have been added to Turkey's clearing house system."
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the central banks of Turkey and Iran have reopened their connection on the SWIFT global transaction network, quoting an Iranian economy official.
Sadegh Akbari, Iran's general director for foreign economic relations, made the comment while speaking to reporters at a conference in Istanbul.
SWIFT this year reconnected a number of Iranian banks to its system, allowing them to resume cross-border transactions with foreign banks. Iranian banks were disconnected from the Belgium-based SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, in March 2012 as international sanctions tightened against Tehran over its nuclear program.
