Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamseddin Hosseini says the country plans to phase out dollar and euro in its future international transactions after the US and the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions on Iran.

“[Iranian] government has made up its mind to phase out vehicle currencies such as dollar and euro in its [foreign] trade,” Hosseini told reporters on the sidelines of the first meeting of the heads of Economic Cooperation Organization’s tax organizations in Tehran on Monday.

He added that after the imposition of sanctions on Iran by the US and the EU, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) immediately moved to change the country's hard currencies reserves into euro and gold which “was beneficial to the country.”

The Iranian minister noted that a change in trade model would reduce the country’s need to vehicle currencies, including dollar and euro.


Hosseini stated that Iran’s trade partners have welcomed the decision due to the currency war waged by the US through devaluation of dollar and also because of West's financial crisis which has convinced other countries to phase out vehicle currencies.

On November 22, 2012, the CBI Governor Mahmoud Bahmani called for the use of local currencies in the global trade system as alternative to dominant tenders.

“Iran has taken proper measures to remove dominant currencies, particularly dollar and euro, from its foreign currency reserves as well as its international trade. [In doing this, Iran has shown that] it is possible to do trade without relying on major currencies,” he said.

At the beginning of 2012, the US and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. /SR