Mubasher: German foreign minister Heiko Maas announced on Monday that Europe has begun working on establishing a system for money transfers that would act as an alternative to the US-dominated Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

“That won’t be easy, but we have already started to do that,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Maas saying at the annual Ambassadors Conference in Berlin.

“We are studying proposals for payment channels and systems, more independent from SWIFT, and for creating European monetary fund,” he added, noting that it was “high time to recalibrate the Transatlantic Partnership – rationally, critically, and even self-critically.”

This announcement came a week after the German foreign minister called for creating payment channels separate from the US and for setting up a European Monetary Fund.

The move to create an independent system was reportedly related to the White House’s recent decision to abandon the nuclear pact signed in 2015 between Iran and the world’s major powers, including the European Union (EU), thereby reimposing sanctions against Tehran.

While the EU said it would remain committed to the nuclear deal, the bloc had to implement the “Blocking Statute” to secure European businesses operating in the Persian Gulf country, but the move could not keep majors like Total, Maersk, and Daimler in the nation, due to their inability to operate away from the US-dominated international banking systems and financial institutions.

It is worth noting that SWIFT is the financial network that provides high-value transfers for its members worldwide. Based in Belgium, SWIFT's board includes executives from the US and with the local federal law mandating the administration with an authority to act against banks and regulators across the world.