Tehran/New Delhi: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Tuesday said the Western hegemonic powers have jeopardised prosperity and the principles of fair trade by resorting to economic coercion and sanctions as he called for the removal of the dollar in transactions to form a fair international system.
Raisi made the remarks while addressing the 23rd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS) presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a video link as Iran became the 9th permanent member of the Beijing-headquartered economic and security bloc.
“…The Western hegemonic powers, by resorting to economic coercion and sanctions, have jeopardised the security and economic prosperity and the principles of fair trade in the world,” Raisi said, in an apparent reference to sanctions imposed by the US-led West on Iran and more recently on Russia and China.
“Relying on the experience of the past decades, it is now quite evident that, along with militarism, what forms the basis of the Western domination system has been the dominance of the dollar, and therefore any attempt to shape a fair international system requires the removal of this instrument of dominance in intra-regional relations,” he was quoted as saying by the official Irna News Agency.
Raisi said that expanding the use of national currencies in international trade and financial exchanges between the SCO member states and their business partners requires more serious attention.
“Iran welcomes any move to introduce financial payment instruments based on modern technologies to facilitate financial exchanges between members and business partners, especially in multilateral frameworks,” he added.
Noting that the SCO comprises more than 60 per cent of the population of the Eurasian region and more than 40 per cent of the world’s population, Raisi said this huge capacity has given this organisation a wide potential to develop trade and deepen economic cooperation in various forms.
He also thanked Prime Minister Modi for hosting the summit and said Iran joining the grouping will have historical benefits.
“Iran believes that [the SCO] is a growing organisation with significant indicators and capacities and a privileged position, and the benefits of this official [accession] of Iran will be recorded in history,” he said.
He also expressed hope that Iran’s presence in the SCO will provide a platform for achieving collective security and sustainable development, as well as unity between the countries.
The virtual summit under India’s presidency was attended by leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Iran as well.
The Beijing-headquartered SCO – founded in Shanghai in 2001 – is an economic and security bloc comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
PTI