While the global economy has been turned 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 see an opportunity to try to end what they see as a problem for the global monetary system: the hegemony of the US dollar.
They believe that for years, Washington has been using the dominant position of its currency in international trade to leverage 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 in the Arabian Gulf through which more than 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply passes, Tehran and Beijing have found a way to promote the yuan as an alternative to the greenback.
Introducing the “petroyuan”
In practice, with the system established by the Iranian regime, commercial ships must pay a passage fee in yuan, according to various sources – and this is just the beginning.
