No more bucks for Iranian-Russian trade

The American dollar will no longer be used in trade between Iran and Russia, and will be replaced by their national currencies in bilateral trade.

According to the Iranian Ambassador to Moscow, Seyed Reza Sajjadi, the proposal to switch to the rouble and the rial came from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kazakhstan.The move follows sanctions imposed by the European Union, the U.S. and the United Nations against Iran over its nuclear program. The Islamic Republic has already replaced the dollar with national currencies in its oil trade with India, China and Japan. “I think it’s relatively positive for the Russian currency, actually as for any currency which is used when bilateral contracts are enumerated in this currency”, says Evgeniy Nadorshin, chief economist of JSFC Sistema. “This was expected taking into account that the United States can no longer support the stability of its own currency. That’s the major problem… Many countries are switching to more stable currencies, to make it more comfortable for them to fulfil trade obligations. And this trend will continue”, he added.