US sanctions and the absence of viable payment channels became major barriers to the expansion of formal trade. To overcome payment-channel challenges, since 2023 Iran and Pakistan have been implementing a barter trade system under the "Business to Business Barter Trade Mechanism". However, one should remember that barter trade can only serve as a stop-gap measure for formal trade. In a way, barter trade belongs to the past, before the idea of comparative advantage prevailed and reshaped the direction of global trade. The immediate challenge is to develop a roadmap for converting the target of $10 billion trade into concrete milestones and a credible pathway.