FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES
by Jonathan Schanzer, Mark Dubowitz
July 17, 2015

The more than $100 billion in sanctions relief is just one reason Tehran agreed to the nuclear deal. Its readmission into an obscure financial network is the real prize.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, did not enter into Tuesday’s historic deal with six world powers to reset relations with the West. It was the promise of more than $100 billion in sanctions relief, rather, that greased the wheels of the recently completed diplomacy in Vienna. And though the windfall of cash will certainly strengthen its position, the real prize for Iran was regaining access to a little-known, but ubiquitous banking system that has been off-limits to the country since March 2012. SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is the electronic bloodstream of the global financial system. It is a member-owned cooperative comprising the most powerful financial institutions in the world, which allows more than 10,800 financial companies worldwide to communicate securely. READ MORE