MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia is currently discussing possible financial cooperation with Iran, in particular on settlements, insurance and the use of Mir cards. First Deputy Chairman of the regulator Vladimir Chistyukhin said this on the sidelines of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament.

"Iran is one of our important partners. As part of our partnership in terms of developing financial relations, we have a large list of various issues - these are settlements, and insurance, and the use of Mir cards and many other aspects. We hope that the more such practical discussions we have, the more effective our foreign economic activity will become," he explained.

Chistyukhin added that the Bank of Russia is considering the use of the Mir payment system with all friendly countries.

"With all countries that are not unfriendly to us, we are conducting a dialogue with a greater or lesser degree of advancement on all those issues that I spoke about, settlements in the first place," he said.

The First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia noted that he conceptually supports the idea of having representative offices of the Bank of Russia in the largest partner countries.

"Continuous dialogue with the local regulator can only be ensured if there is direct staff there - those people who know local specifics, speak the language, and are ready to promptly discuss some issues, including confidentially. If we talk only about business trips - this work will not be effective," Chistyukhin said.

Earlier, the head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, held talks with the head of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Reza Farzin.

In January, Farzin said that representatives of the central banks of Russia and Iran had signed an agreement on cooperation in facilitating financial and banking transactions between the two countries.