Aleksandr Potemkin of the staff of the Russian Central Bank said the ruble and China’s renminbi were already used for China-Russia trade—but only for about 2 percent of it.
Iran has been pushing for transactions in local currencies rather than the dollar since it has much trouble using the dollar as a result of the U.S. Treasury campaign to encourage bankers to cease conducting any dollar deals for Iran.
Turkey and Iran have said they are discussing the use of the rial and Turkish lira for their trade.
Mahmud-Reza Khavari, president of Bank Melli Iran, was quoted by the Fars news agency last week as saying “come countries” have agreed to accept the rial in payment “for some transactions.” But the report didn’t say what transactions, what countries or even how many countries were involved.
Iranian deputy Oil Minister Hossain Noqrehkar Shirazi announced the offer to Russia while speaking to reporters in Moscow last Wednesday. “We want our national currencies to be used in our projects,” he said.