🇮🇷 Sending to Iran¶
IR · IRN
Restricted — sanctions FATF high risk IBAN required SWIFT BIC required
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Sanctions Restrictions
GIB does not process payments to this destination. Submissions will be blocked by sanctions screening. Any exception requires written pre-authorization from GIB Compliance before submission.
FATF High Risk
This jurisdiction appears on the FATF High-Risk list. Enhanced due diligence is required.
Required information¶
For your end users
This country is subject to comprehensive sanctions. Wires may be blocked, returned, or held by screening. Consult your compliance team before initiating any transfer.
Last reviewed by GIB compliance on 2026-05-21. Reference material only.
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Currency
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Typical settlement
1-2 business days typical; longer for cross-border with FX or compliance review.
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SWIFT BIC
Required
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Local clearing
SHETAB / SATNA — Bank Markazi RTGS (sanctioned)
Account format¶
How beneficiary account numbers are structured for Iran. Failure to match this format is the single most common reason wires are rejected at the destination.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Format tier | IBAN required |
| Length | 26 characters: IR + 2 check digits + 22 digits (3-digit bank code + 19-digit account) |
| Validation regex | ^IR[0-9]{2}[0-9]{22}$ |
| Example | IR580540105180021273113007 |
Routing identifiers¶
Which routing codes the wire-creation API call must include for Iran.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| SWIFT BIC | Required |
| CBI bank code | Required |
| Format | 3-digit numeric prefix embedded in IBAN |
| Directory | ↗ Source |
| Local clearing | SHETAB / SATNA — Bank Markazi RTGS (sanctioned) |
Address format¶
How Iran expects the beneficiary address to appear on the wire. Free-form variations frequently trigger compliance holds.
- Recipient Name
- Street Address
- District, City
- Postal Code
- IRAN
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Postal code | Optional — validated against the format below when provided |
| Postal code regex | ^[0-9]{10}$ |
| Example | 1916893651 |
Purpose of payment¶
Put the purpose in the remittance information (<RmtInf><Ustrd>) of the ISO 20022 wire-creation request, as the code format below describes.
Requirement: Mandatory
GIB check: a missing or unexpected purpose is reported as a validation warning; the wire is not held.
Not yet confirmed
We have not yet confirmed this country's purpose-of-payment requirement against a central-bank or correspondent-bank source. Including a purpose is recommended. We update these guides as we confirm each country.
Non-standard element
For Iran, the purpose is placed in <RmtInf> (remittance info), not the standard <Purp> element.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Code format | Free-text; in practice all wires are blocked or licensed |
Operational notes¶
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Currencies accepted | IRR |
| Typical settlement | 1-2 business days typical; longer for cross-border with FX or compliance review. |
| Banking holidays | ↗ Calendar |
Known issues:
- OFAC program: ITSR (Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR Part 560); IFSR (Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR Part 561); plus E.O. 13599 blocking of the Government of Iran and Iranian financial institutions.
- Comprehensive embargo; effectively no permissible USD wire to Iran absent a specific OFAC license or a narrow general license.
- General licenses exist for humanitarian categories: GL 8 / 8A (humanitarian transactions involving the Central Bank of Iran), agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices under TSRA framework; NGO activities under ITSR 560.530.
- Bank Markazi (Central Bank of Iran) is itself blocked under E.O. 13599.
- Wires require OFAC compliance pre-clearance in every case; default posture is reject and block, with SAR / blocked-property report to OFAC within 10 business days.
Common rejection reasons¶
Documented patterns that cause this country's banks to return wires. Universal reasons (sanctions holds, missing BIC) aren't repeated here.
All wires subject to sanctions screening hold and compliance review.
Beneficiary name mismatch.
Missing or invalid SWIFT/BIC code.
Insufficient remittance information.
Beneficiary or beneficiary bank on OFAC / EU / UN / UK sanctions list.
OFAC SDN match (CBI / Bank Markazi, Bank Melli, Bank Mellat, Bank Saderat, Bank Sepah, EDBI, and most major Iranian banks designated).
Counterparty disconnected from SWIFT (most Iranian banks delisted 2018 / 2019).
IRGC or MODAFL nexus (50 percent rule).
Indirect Iran nexus via UAE, Turkey, Oman, or Hong Kong front companies.
IRR vs Toman ambiguity in amount fields (Toman = 10 IRR, not an ISO currency code).
Validate before you send¶
Check identifiers before you submit. The IBAN check runs in your browser (format plus the ISO 13616 MOD-97 check digit). GIB's API checks the IBAN format for countries where an IBAN is required. The BIC lookup searches GIB's BIC directory and needs a dashboard login.
IBAN check
Format: ^IR[0-9]{2}[0-9]{22}$ · MOD-97 (ISO 13616) check digit verified locally.
BIC lookup
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References¶
First-party sources — central banks, FX regulators, ISO registries. Always re-verify against these before pushing volume to a new corridor.
Disclaimer
These country guides aggregate information from central banks, regulators, and industry-standard references. Global Innovations Bank reviews them on a rolling cadence and notes the verification date on each page. Payment-corridor rules change between releases, so we cannot guarantee continued accuracy.
Always verify against the primary sources linked in the References section before going live in a new corridor. Re-check applicable sanctions lists (OFAC, EU, UK, UN consolidated, and any state-level requirements) at the time of payment, since designations shift between our refreshes.
For fintech partners on GIB's sponsor-bank rails, these guides do not replace your BSA/AML, KYC, sanctions-screening, or transaction-monitoring obligations under your program agreement with GIB.
Nothing in this material constitutes legal, tax, or regulatory advice, and wire-acceptance decisions remain at the discretion of GIB Compliance and the destination bank.