Abdolnaser Hemmati, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, met separately with his Turkish and Tunisian counterparts on the sidelines of the summit of Central Bank Governors of Islamic Countries in Istanbul. According to IRNA, the meetings emphasized expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation among Islamic states, with a particular focus on strengthening monetary and banking interactions.
Hemmati arrived in Istanbul on Sunday at the head of a high-ranking delegation to attend the official summit. Beyond the main event, he has scheduled a series of intensive bilateral meetings with officials from member countries. The main focus of these consultations, officials say, is to deepen banking and trade cooperation and to define new mechanisms to facilitate trade exchanges.
The trip is being viewed as a potential step toward reducing financial restrictions on Iran and bolstering its economic relations with Islamic countries. Turkey, a key trading partner, and Tunisia, a North African economy with longstanding ties to Iran, are important pieces in that strategy.
Analysts note that with Iran’s banking sector still largely cut off from global markets, cooperation within the Islamic world—through bilateral currency swaps, joint banking mechanisms, and trade settlement arrangements—could offer a partial workaround. The Istanbul summit provides a platform for such discussions, and Hemmati’s active schedule suggests Iran is eager to translate diplomatic goodwill into concrete financial channels.
Whether these talks yield tangible results remains to be seen, but the CBI chief’s agenda signals a clear intent: to use the Islamic banking network as a lever to ease Iran’s economic isolation and open new avenues for trade.
