According to an article by the Iranian newspaper Resalat, the anti-Russian sanctions imposed on the country by Western countries have not led to the desired effect due to the Mir payment system.
According to the Iranian media, anticipating the disconnection from the SWIFT payment system, Russia has provided itself in advance and put its own local system into operation, through which one can freely conduct international payments.
In fact, the existence of the Mir card made the “operation” of numerous sanctions against Russia meaningless and leveled the consequences of the termination of Master Card and Visa in the country. Meanwhile, the cards of these payment systems of Russian banks continue to work now (though, inside the country), and they can be paid for, because they are serviced by the National Payment Card System (NPCS) of the Cenral Bank of Russia. At the same time, many cards will now be indefinite, because new cards will no longer be issued.
Previously, it has been repeatedly reported on the possible connection of the payment systems of Iran and Russia, and we have already had co-baying cards that allow us to work in the Mir and Union Pau systems simultaneously. In addition, Mir cards will be accepted in Turkish hotels in the near future. They have already set up terminals there, so there will be more abilities to use Russian cards in local ATMs soon.
The Resalat Iranian newspaper also noted and praised the decision to make payments for Russian gas supplies in rubles, announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 23. This factor has practically disarmed the collective West, because it has failed to circumvent its own restrictions so that both sanctions remain in place and Russian energy carriers remain, which they have nothing to replace. Numerous experts predict that the EU simply will not make it through winter if it does not stop the financial and economic conflict with Russia.
Meanwhile, due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine, which began on February 24, Western countries decided to introduce new restrictions. The European Union is considering the option of permanently refusing supplies of Russian gas and oil. A sixth package of sanctions, which would impose an oil embargo, is currently being discussed, but so far some countries are blocking it. For example, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban considers further discussion of the oil embargo against Russia counterproductive without agreement on alternatives.
There has been a noticeable weakening of unity among the EU countries with regard to the application of sanctions against Russia. Thus, Europe could no longer afford a complete ban on Russian energy carriers in the near future, said the Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov questioned the removal of restrictions after the special operation in Ukraine. In his opinion, this is not about Ukraine, because it has simply become a “bargaining chip” in the Western states' deterrence of our country, so that Russia could not prevent the establishment of a unipolar world led by the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that “the policy of containing and weakening Russia” is a long-term strategy of the West.