Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Mahdi Safari, said on 3 January that Tehran is interested in forming a unified currency with member states of the BRICS group of emerging economies.
“We are interested in creating a unified currency in the BRICS group, and this could be very effective,” Mahdi Safari said in an interview with Sputnik.
“By using national currencies, the process of eliminating the use of the dollar in commercial exchanges begins, and we are interested in continuing this process,” Safari added.
The minister added that Tehran hopes to serve as a banking center for BRICS nations. He also praised the role of the New Development Bank established by BRICS nations in 2014 to support joint projects and international cooperation.
Safari highlighted the positive role BRICS can play in terms of energy.
“The most important problem is represented by three issues: the first is energy production, the second is energy transfer, and the third is energy consumption. I can say that these three issues are being solved by BRICS.”
The annual BRICS summit was held in August last year. During the summit, Iran was one of six countries officially invited to join the group of nations, alongside Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
During the summit, discussions were held regarding the establishment of a joint currency. These plans have been underway for some time, and have now accelerated with the aim of countering the hegemony of the US dollar.
BRICS countries have recently stepped up trade in local currencies in order to strengthen their economies and counter the greenback.
Safari’s comments come just two days after the chairmanship of BRICS was officially handed over from South Africa to Russia.
Over recent months, both Russia and China have sought to expand the BRICS group, in an attempt to forge closer ties with South America and West Asia.
BRICS member states comprise 40 percent of the global population and nearly a third of the world’s economy. Last year, BRICS outpaced the gross domestic product (GDP) of the US-led G7 in terms of purchasing power parity.
During the BRICS summit on 24 August 2023, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi described the 11-member BRICS as a symbol of change. He then underscored what he called were the historic advantages that Iran’s inclusion in the economic bloc would bring, noting that it marks “a new step towards establishing justice, ethics, and sustainable peace in the world.”