Sergei Balmasov: Russia and Iran Punish the West with Rubles!f

Against the background of frightening statements that sound from Western and Israeli politicians about the imminent attack on Iran, an active war in the economic area has been ongoing. In early January of 2012, news agencies spread the message that Tehran and Moscow abandoned transactions in dollars and euros in favor of rubles and Rials. Note that this decision was made after the sudden drop of the Iranian Rial value in January, by more than one third, in relation to the US dollar. According to Tehran officials, this was due to the machinations of the West and anti-Iranian hysteria. Following this development, international interbank transfer system of information and payments SWIFT used for financial interaction between Western and Iranian companies has ceased its work in the Islamic Republic. Despite these significant and seemingly purely economic things Westerners talk openly, the next steps against Iran are due to the desire to further punish Tehran for its nuclear program. What consequences will there be for Iran? Is Russia able to really help to minimize the costs of termination of SWIFT? Ivan Rodionov, professor at the Institute of Economics, shared his thoughts in an interview with "Pravda.Ru". First, if we talk about the fact that Tehran and Moscow could abandon transactions in dollars and euros, unfortunately this is something of a PR nature and is more a political gesture. It is unlikely that they will be able to completely switch to the Ruble and Rial. Several issues should be considered: We are sellers, and the market is determined by the buyer. The latter has the obligation in terms of purchase of the national currency. It looks pretty and is good for PR, but it cannot have any economic sense because commissions will consume all possible benefits!