Let’s ditch the dollar and ‘isolate the Americans’: Iran suggests Russia

TEHRAN - The best way to beat US sanctions against Iran and Russia is joint efforts to dump the American currency in bilateral trade, according to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

"By ignoring the negative propaganda of the enemies, that seek to weaken relations between countries, we can nullify US sanctions, using methods such as eliminating the dollar and replacing it with national currencies in transactions between two or more parties; thus, isolate the Americans," he said on Wednesday at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran.

According to Khamenei, economic relations have vast room for improvement. "In the transportation sector, we can expand cooperation, using the main axis of Chabahar port to the port of Saint Petersburg, as well as in other economic areas,” he said.

During the meeting, which lasted about an hour and a quarter, Putin replied that Russia considers Iran “a strategic partner and a great neighbor, and we will take advantage of every opportunity to expand and consolidate relationships in all dimensions.”

The Russian president said the US wants to interfere in all matters of the world and the region and often ignores interests of its allies to do so.

However, since 2014, despite the sanctions, “we devoted our funds to scientific and technological progress, and we had significant growth in the fields of biotechnology, IT, agriculture and space industries. Now, in spite of the initial concerns, we have realized that we can do whatever we decide to," said Putin.

Putin is visiting the Iranian capital to attend a trilateral summit with the leaders of Iran and Azerbaijan.