TEHRAN - Iran Currency Exchange (ICE) has listed the ruble-rial pair trading, as the first stage of the Iran-Russia banking measures package agreed upon during Iran’s CBI governor’s trip to Moscow.
Tehran and Moscow have agreed to accept their national currency in their trades, which means they want to say goodbye to the dollar by allowing settlements by the rial and the ruble.
Analysts believe under the world’s present political circumstances where major currencies have been used as political tools by certain powers, using local currencies and signing bilateral and multilateral monetary pacts can be an effective way to neutralize major powers’ policies to dominate other countries.
The two oil and gas rich countries, both targeted by sanctions, have joined hands to neutralize economic pressure exerted by the U.S. and Europe.
Such a listing on Iran Currency Exchange will pave the ground for dollar demand to be lowered by 3 billion dollars a year.
Iran and Russia’s approach has roots in the West’s policies on imposing sanctions to pressure independent countries. Such new methods could further neutralize the financial impact of sanctions for both countries.
The new mechanism paves the way for sanctions countries to form an international financial alliance in the framework of bilateral and multilateral currency agreements to carry out their trade exchanges in national currencies rather than the dollar or the euro.
Using foreign currencies other than the dollar and the euro could prepare new grounds for Iran and Russia to expand their economic relations in line with their development programs.