Foreigners in Iran will be able to start using Russia’s Mir cards of the eponymous payment system by the end of August as the project of unifying the payment systems of the two countries has been completed and reached the practical level, Iranian Central Bank governor Mohammad-Reza Farzin said on Saturday.

Farzin was quoted by Iranian news agency Tasnim as saying. “At the bilateral meeting of the delegations of specialists of the two countries, along with the finalization of the requirements for linking the Russian payment system Mir to the Iranian system SHETAB, the project reached the practical level, the first stage of which will be available to foreign citizens by the end of the next month per the Gregorian calendar (at the beginning of the Iranian month of Shahrivar) [August 22],”

Iranian citizens will also be able to will be able to withdraw rubles from their Shetab cards using ATMs in Russia and pay with their cards in Russian shops, he added.