Vice President of Iran-India Joint Chamber of Commerce Calls Dollar Removal a 'Formality'

Mehdi Rang Rona, Vice President of the Iran-India Joint Chamber of Commerce, criticized the approach to remove the dollar from Iran's economy, deeming it unfeasible. He stated that in international transactions where one party is Iran, 'the likelihood of transaction blockage increases.' Rang Rona told the government news agency ILNA that for the past two years, the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade has banned dollar order registrations, replacing it with euros, dirhams, dinars, lira, and other currencies for import orders. He emphasized that despite this, 'the dollar, as a reference currency with strong backing, remains significant, and the world operates with this currency; therefore, its fluctuations also impact our economy.' He added, 'In other words, the dollar still holds the first and last word, and fluctuations of other currencies occur in accordance with dollar fluctuations.' The removal of the dollar from Iran's economy has been put on the agenda by Ali Khamenei. On the first day of the current year in Mashhad, Khamenei stressed the need to reduce the government's role in the economy and move away from the dollar, stating, 'One of the problems of our economy is dependence on the dollar. Some countries that have been sanctioned have cut their dependence on the dollar, and their situation improved; we must do the same.' At the same time, an economist reacted to the topic of removing the dollar from the economy on social media, writing, 'All economies depend on the dollar as a reference currency.' Payman Molavi emphasized in this post: 'All major currencies are defined against the dollar, whether yen, euro, pound, or yuan, and the dollar is a universal currency that countries use for reserve and exchanges; the dollar cannot be eliminated in any country.' In July of this year, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, announced in an interview with RT that the complete removal of the dollar in transactions between Iran and Russia had occurred, but Iranian merchants did not confirm this. In this context, Abdollah Mohajer Darabi, Vice President of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce, stated in an interview with the government news agency ILNA that Iranian traders are still forced to use the dollar in trade with Russia. The government of Ebrahim Raisi was supposed to begin the removal of the dollar from transactions with Russia, but no success has been achieved in this regard. In another action, the government converted budget dollar figures to euros, but ultimately all transactions are conducted in dollars, and the removal of the dollar has only been on paper, with it being converted to euros. Oil prices dropped following the Islamic Republic's attack on Israel. Dollar de-dollarization remains ambiguous; a member of parliament says we want dollars more than anything. A member of the Chamber of Commerce stated, 'Dollar de-dollarization' is ideological. The order from the First Vice President of Raisi for 'dollar de-dollarization' in sports; prohibition of 'dollar' contracts with foreign athletes and coaches.