Iran, Russia Plan to Use National Currencies in Bilateral Trade

A senior Iranian lawmaker announced that Tehran and Moscow have a plan to replace the US dollar with their national currencies in bilateral transactions.

“Replacing (the US) dollar with ruble in bilateral and multilateral transactions between Iran and Russia tops the agenda of the upcoming visit of an Iranian delegation to Russia,” member of Iran-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Group Hadi Qavami said on October 25.

Qavami pointed to an upcoming visit of Iran-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Group to Moscow, and said, “The Russia-Iran parliamentary friendship group has recently visited Iran and now the visit of the Iranian delegation will take place at the invitation of the Russian side.”

He noted that the Iranian delegation will discuss setting up banks along Iran-Oman border in a bid to facilitate changing Iran’s oil payments to ruble and rial and to reduce the pressure of sanctions.

In the last several years, Iran and Russia have had vast cooperation in different fields, especially in political and economic spheres.

The two states also enjoy special positions on the international scene and have long had constant and regular consultations on key regional and global issues.