What is a SWIFT transfer, and how can Iranians use it from Turkey?

Anyone in Turkey who wants to send money to a bank account in Germany, Canada or the United Arab Emirates sooner or later runs into the word "SWIFT". The bank asks for the recipient's SWIFT code, mentions an intermediary bank and warns that the amount may shrink on the way. For Iranians who have only just opened a Turkish account, these terms are usually unfamiliar.

This article explains in plain language what a SWIFT transfer is, how a SWIFT code (BIC) differs from an IBAN, what a correspondent bank does in the chain, why Iranian banks are outside the network and how an Iranian living in or visiting Turkey can use this route. At the end you will find the list of details to have ready before any request.

What is SWIFT?

SWIFT is a cooperative owned by banks that runs a secure, standardised messaging network between financial institutions around the world. The point most often misunderstood is this: SWIFT does not move money and does not hold accounts or balances for customers. In its own words, it provides secure messaging using standardised financial messages; it does not hold funds.

So when people say "a SWIFT transfer", they mean that your bank sends a message through this network to the recipient's bank (and, if needed, to banks in between) stating what amount, to which account and for what purpose should be credited. The money itself moves through the accounts that banks keep with one another. That is why the speed and cost of a transfer are set by the banks on the route, not by the messaging network.

What is a SWIFT code (BIC), and how is it different from an IBAN?

A SWIFT code, formally a Business Identifier Code or BIC, is defined by the international standard ISO 9362 and is used for addressing messages and identifying the parties to a transaction. It has eight or eleven characters: the first letters identify the institution, then the country code, then the location code and, where present, three final characters for the branch.

An IBAN is something else: the identifier of a specific account at a specific bank. In Turkey an IBAN starts with TR, in European countries with the code of that country. An international transfer usually needs both: the BIC says which bank the message goes to, and the IBAN says which account at that bank receives the funds. If the recipient is in a country that does not use IBANs, an account number and local codes are requested instead.

A practical note: having a BIC does not mean a bank is actively connected to the network. SWIFT itself explains that a BIC is only an identifier and by itself does not indicate access to the messaging network. That detail matters for Iranian banks, which we come to below.

Correspondent banks and intermediary accounts

Two banks in two countries do not always have a direct relationship. When your bank in Turkey holds no account directly with the recipient's bank, the message and the money pass through one or more "correspondent banks": a bank that has a relationship with both sides or with a chain of banks. The accounts banks keep with each other for this purpose are called correspondent or nostro accounts.

Each intermediary on the route has three effects:

• An extra step: every bank in the middle has to check and execute the message, so the longer the chain, the more steps.
• Deductions from the amount: intermediary banks may take their charges out of the principal. That is why the amount received sometimes differs from the amount sent, even when the sender paid all of their own bank's fees.
• Time: a SWIFT transfer is not instant. With correspondents involved it usually takes from one to several business days, and bank holidays in the countries on the route add to that.

This is why, before sending, you should know who pays which bank's charges and what net amount reaches the recipient. For requests reviewed through EL DÖVİZ, these points are stated before execution.

Why are Iranian banks outside the network?

As of October 2026 the position is this: in March 2012, following European Union sanctions, SWIFT disconnected the sanctioned Iranian banks. After the nuclear agreement was implemented, non-sanctioned Iranian banks were reconnected from 13 February 2016. On 5 November 2018, as United States sanctions were reimposed, SWIFT announced that it was "suspending certain Iranian banks' access to the messaging system", calling the step "regrettable" and "taken in the interest of the stability and integrity of the wider global financial system".

The practical consequence for an ordinary customer is simple: bank accounts inside Iran are not reachable through SWIFT. You can neither send a SWIFT transfer from an Iranian account nor receive one directly in Iran. So any Iranian who needs this route needs an account outside Iran or a reliable intermediary. Rules change, and the current position should be checked before deciding.

How can an Iranian in Turkey send or receive a SWIFT transfer?

There are two common routes.

From your own bank account in Turkey

If you hold a bank account in Turkey in your own name, the bank can send or receive SWIFT transfers from that account. The bank usually asks for the recipient's full name, IBAN or account number, the BIC of the destination bank and the purpose of the transfer, and depending on the amount it may ask for supporting documents. How to open an account with or without residence is covered in the guide to opening a bank account in Turkey. A foreign-currency account (dollars or euros) is usually better suited to transfers abroad than a lira account, because it removes one conversion step.

Through an exchange office

If you have no Turkish account, hold the money in another currency or want someone to check the route for you, you can place the request with an exchange office. EL DÖVİZ checks, for each request separately, whether a route to the destination and currency is available, and states the rate, fee and estimated timing before execution. The details are on the SWIFT and SEPA transfers from Turkey page. If the money is still in Iran and first has to reach Turkey, the guide to moving money from Iran to Turkey compares the routes.

Details and documents to prepare

• The recipient's full name exactly as on their account, and their address if the destination bank requires it.
• The recipient's IBAN or account number and the BIC of the destination bank, as text and directly from the recipient.
• The currency and the amount, and whether you want a specific net amount to arrive or a specific amount to be sent.
• The purpose of the transfer and, where needed, a supporting document: invoice, contract, admission letter or proforma.
• Your own identity document; for business requests, company documents may also be requested.

Anything extra your request needs is stated before execution, not afterwards.

SWIFT or SEPA?

If the destination is a euro account in Europe, you will probably also come across the word "SEPA". SEPA is the euro payment area within Europe, and Turkey is not a member; a transfer from Turkey to a European account therefore usually goes by the SWIFT route or through an intermediary that itself holds an account inside SEPA. The difference between the two is explained in what is a SEPA transfer.

If your destination, currency and amount are known, enter them in the quote form. After reviewing the request, EL DÖVİZ tells you whether the route is available and states the rate and fee before any step is taken.