Iran and Russia have signed a financial-messaging agreement under which banks of those two countries can transfer funds between one another outside the Western finance-controlled SWIFT system from which both are largely blocked by Western sanctions. The MOU of the agreement, which had been in the works for a year, was signed on Jan. 29 at a ceremony in Tehran for the occasion, with officials from both nations present, Al-Monitor reported. Citing the Iranian business website, Tehran Bazaar, Al Monitor says Iran’s Shahr Bank and Russia’s VTB Bank will be involved in the initial pilot program.