Turkey, Iran central banks re-open SWIFT connection: official

The central banks of Turkey and Iran have re-opened their connection on the SWIFT global transaction network, an Iranian economy official said on Wednesday, a sign of normalising banking ties after the lifting of sanctions against Tehran.

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 Belgium-based SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, in March 2012 as international sanctions tightened against Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme.