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Page added on February 2, 2017
Iran Ditching Dollar
The Iranian government is to stop using the US dollar in its official statements, according to a report in the local English-language daily the Financial Tribune.
The decision was announced by Central Bank of Iran governor Valiollah Seif during a television interview on the evening of January 29 and, according to the paper, is due to take effect from the start of the new fiscal year on 21 March. It will affect all official financial and foreign exchange reports.
The move is significant in the light of the recent ‘Muslim ban’ by US President Donald Trump, which prevents anyone from Iran and six other Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. The Iranian government has vowed to take “reciprocal measures” and has said it will stop issuing visas to US citizens. Some exceptions to this may be made though. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that it has yet to decide on whether to allow a US freestyle wrestling team into the country. The team is due to compete in the Wrestling World Cup in Kermanshah province in mid-February.
While the White House has said the order to bar Iranians and others was made to tackle the threat of terrorism, it is notable that since 1975 no Americans have been killed in terrorist attacks in the US by the citizens of the countries included in the ban. It has also been widely noted that Trump’s business empire does not extend to the seven targeted countries but others where he does have business interests have not been included in the order, even though their citizens have been involved in terrorist outrages in the US.
The governor of the Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif (R) talks with the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi, ahead of a press conference in Tehran in January 2016 after international sanctions on Iran were lifted (Photo: ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)
As a result of years of sanctions imposed by a succession of US administrations, Iran has very little trade with the US. Its most important trading partner is the UAE, which accounts for around 24% of all Iranian imports and exports. China is not far behind with 22%, followed by Turkey, India and the EU, all of which account for around 6% of Iran’s trade.
This leaves open the question of what Iran will use to replace the dollar. Seif said in the television interview that “we have to set a currency as the basis of financial reporting that has better stability and greater application in our foreign trade,” according to the Financial Tribune.
He added that Iran has the option of “selecting a basket of currencies or choosing the currency that plays the biggest part in foreign trade”. That suggests that the euro could be a logical alternative for the dollar.
However, the decision to drop the dollar could prove to be complicated for Iran, given that its most important export is oil which is priced in dollars. The country is on course to earn $41bn from oil sales this fiscal year. Switching its reporting to another currency will add a degree of currency risk and volatility and is likely to complicate matters for the authorities. At this stage, however, it is not clear how they will deal with this issue.
15 Comments on "Iran Ditching Dollar"
Hello on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 7:57 am
Sweet
Davy on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 8:06 am
Good, I wish I could too. For those of you who hate the dollar get over it there is nothing to replace it but collapse. Speaking of collapse, Hello, your (sweet) Euro days are numbered.
Hello on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 8:34 am
Davy, luckely I’m not part of the euro empire. But I’m looking forward to both the end of the EU as well as the euro.
Davy on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 8:43 am
Hello, I watch closely where people are from and where they live. This gives me insight into who they are and what their message is. You have said you are in Europe and I believe Germany. I may have got that wrong or misunderstood you. Why not come out and tell us the real you or are you afraid of who you are?
twocats on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 8:45 am
We’ve been hearing claims like this forever. Worse than kashagan (which at least is producing now).
These bilateral currency agreements have been slowly damaging dollar hegemony (china w/ Russia deals et al were far more important), but the trade war being threatened by PDT has way more potential to destroying the strength of the dollar than Iran bourse.
Hello on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 8:54 am
Davy. Not many options left.
From europe, but proudly not EU.
Lucifer on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 10:09 am
Davy, can you guess where i’m from? I will give you as hint, it is hot.
charmcitysking on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 10:42 am
Uncle Sam won’t like this one bit, considering what happened to the last three countries that tried to drop the dollar (Iraq, Libya, Syria).
Davy on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 10:44 am
Hey Devil, get off your ass and gets something done, your slacking off. We need some help here cleaning up the mess we made. Where is your posse of horsemen?
general_war on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 11:15 am
i wonder how many days until usaf bombers start bringing democracy to iran… not too long now for sure, since the iranians officialy admitted to this horrendous attack on american way of life, democracy and liberty itself
Anonymous on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 2:23 pm
Good! We need more of this, a lot more. With the uS committed to bringing demockracy and freedom fries to, lets see, Syria, China, Russia, Ukraine, Yemen Venezuela, it would difficult, likely impossible for them to pull another ‘Iraq WoMD’ style of regime change ops again Iran. President hairpiece will be told to blow smoke about ‘missles’s’, but the real rulers of empire know what this means, of course.
Cloggie on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 2:43 pm
Davy. Not many options left.
From europe, but proudly not EU.
Norway, Iceland, Albania (I’m joking), Switzerland, Former Yugoslavia?
Come on man, the NSA knows everything about you, including all your mail, posts and telephone conversations.
Norway or Switzerland, right?
Davy on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 2:51 pm
Clog, I thing Swiss. Him or her (?) has indicated in the past some kind of Germanic connection. That would be exciting for you. You’re found of Germans.LOL.
Cloggie on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 3:53 pm
Davy, you are probably right, problem solved:
http://peakoil.com/enviroment/worlds-population-to-reach-11-2-billion-by-end-of-the-century
Hello on Thu, 30th Jul 2015 8:53 am
The saddest thing is that West is hell-bent on importing the 3rd world surplus population.
Once beautiful Switzerland already looks like a freak show of negros and other assorted 3rd world cave dwellers.
Where will it end?
Switzerland is more or less the cause of my existence as my parents met each other there (Berner Oberland). I go there every year, I know every square meter in Switzerland.
My favorite location, Lauterbrunnen valley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfSsP706mR4
Cloggie on Thu, 2nd Feb 2017 4:11 pm
He added that Iran has the option of “selecting a basket of currencies or choosing the currency that plays the biggest part in foreign trade”. That suggests that the euro could be a logical alternative for the dollar…. However, the decision to drop the dollar could prove to be complicated for Iran, given that its most important export is oil which is priced in dollars.
Don’t understand the problem. Haven’t the Persians ever heard of dollar-euro exchange rates?