Iran pushes for de-dollarization in meeting with 11 other countries as officials say the move away from the greenback is 'not a voluntary choice'

• Iran pushed for de-dollarization efforts in a meeting with 11 other nations.
• The move away from the greenback is "not a voluntary choice," Iran's first vice president said.

Iran pushed for de-dollarization in a meeting with 11 other countries, with officials stating that the move away from the US dollar was no longer a "voluntary choice."

Iran hosted the 51st Asian Clearing Union meeting on Tuesday in Tehran, inviting the eight other member nations to discuss key economic issues facing the group. Officials from Russia, Belarus, and Afghanistan also attended as observers, per a report from the Tasnim News Agency.

Iran's first vice president Mohammad Mokhber spoke on the growing de-dollarization movement, with nations moving away from the use of the greenback in global trade.

"De-dollarization is not a voluntary choice by countries anymore, it is the countries' inevitable response to the 'weaponization project of the dollar,'" Mokhber said at the event, pointing to western actions like banning Iran and Russia from SWIFT, the global financial communication system. The move cut both countries off from their foreign reserves, including any denominated in dollars.

A weaker dollar could threaten the United States' influence in international markets, Mokhber suggested. He added that Iran was willing to strengthen trade and financial ties to other countries, especially ACU members.

Iran, Russia, and other countries in attendance have been trying to shift away from the use of the US dollar for some time, with various efforts underway to conduct more trade in local currencies. In January, Iran and Russia floated a gold-backed cryptocurrency to potentially challenge the US dollar, and the two nations are now combining their banking systems in order to get around being banned from SWIFT.

But while the dominance of the dollar has wavered slightly in recent months as rivals try to muscle in, the greenback is unlikely to be displaced as the world's dominant reserve currency, experts say.

That's because the dollar has accounted for the bulk of international trade and foreign reserves for years, according to International Monetary Fund and Bank of International Settlements data, and it's difficult to convince global markets that there's a more stable currency out there.