While the global economy has been upside down for over a month due to the American-Israeli war against Iran (suspended for two weeks since Wednesday, April 8), Tehran and Beijing are taking the opportunity to try to put an end to what they see as a problem for the global monetary system: the hegemony of the American dollar.
For years, they believe, Washington has been using the dominant position of its currency in international trade to wield its influence and harm its adversaries and competitors, including China and Iran.
This supremacy is particularly evident in the global oil market, where nearly 80% of transactions are settled in dollars, according to an estimate made in 2023 by JP Morgan Chase. With Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, the passage from the Arabian Gulf through which over 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas supply transit, Tehran and Beijing have found a way to promote the yuan as an alternative to the greenback.
Introducing the “PetroYuan”
In practice, with the toll imposed by the Iranian regime, commercial ships must pay a passage fee in yuan, various sources confirm – and this is just the beginning.
