West will be the main loser if closes SWIFT on Iran: Iranian banker

West will be the main loser if closes SWIFT on Iran: banker TEHRAN, March 1(MNA) – The West will face many financial problems if it bans banking transactions through the SWIFT system with Iran, an Iranian bank official said yesterday. Many European and American companies transact significant amounts of money though the SWIFT system with the Islamic republic. Closing the SWIFT system on Iran will present them with severe problems, Bahaeddin Hosseini Hashemi told . Although these moves will be also problematic for Iran as well, the country will be able to find alternative solutions to carry out international transactions, he stressed. The world's biggest electronic banking system is ready to block Iran's central bank from using its network to transfer funds, a U.S. congressional aide said last week after a briefing from the Belgium-based group earlier this week, Reuters reported. Such a move by SWIFT, or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, would prevent Tehran from sending electronic payment orders around the world and give the West another tool in its effort to force Iran to retreat from its nuclear program. Under pressure from the United States to stop Iran's banks from using its global network, SWIFT has said it was prepared to block Iranian transactions.