Brussels-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has agreed to expel Iranian banks in response to pending European Union (EU) and the US sanctions, impacting financial communication service providers.
SWIFT told Reuters that as soon as the EU legislation, currently being drafted, is cleared it will act and discontinue its services to sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.
In response to the decision, Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) executive director Mark Dubowitz said that Iran would be the first country in history that SWIFT would have expelled.
The move will hamper Iranian banks’ ability to move billions of dollars in financial transactions, and put immense pressure on Iran’s leaders to reconsider their policies.
"The international sanctions on the Iranian regime are the last remaining hope of bringing a peaceful end to its unlawful nuclear pursuits, terrorist activities, and human rights abuses," Dubowitz added.
According to an estimate, nearly 19 Iranian banks and 25 Iranian entities used SWIFT more than two million times in 2010 and the total transition has been valued nearly $35bn in trade with Europe, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.