Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left). Photo: wiki commons.

Business Week – The leading worldwide financial messaging service for international money transfers announced today that it will stop providing services to Iranian banks subject to European Union sanctions — a category that includes Iran’s central bank.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, known as Swift, said it is taking the action in response to EU regulations issued today. The halt to Swift services for sanctioned Iranian banks will take effect March 17 at 1600 (4 p.m.) GMT, Swift said in a statement.

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