“Iran is considering joining Russia’s financial messaging system to bypass the Swift interbank system , after a number of Russian banks were cut off from the international payment messaging platform as part of western sanctions imposed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s Financial Message Transfer System (SPFS) was created to counter the risks of a disconnection of Russian banks from Swift, and talks are now under way to integrate Iran into the system, Moscow state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported on Thursday.”