Iran has been suffering under American sanctions; now Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is urging “Muslim nations …to deepen financial and trade cooperation to fight what he described as U.S. economic hegemony, using an Islamic conference in Malaysia as a platform to decry American sanctions against his country.”
Rouhani picked the right forum to lobby for support, given that Islamic leaders assembled in Malaysia to “revive the spirit of the Muslim world” and unite fellow Muslims that are currently at war with one another. The problem is that the Muslim world is so divided that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation saw the conference as a threat to its monopoly; Pakistan and Saudi Arabia snubbed the conference.
“Iran leader urges deeper Muslim links to fight US ‘hegemony,’” by Eileen Ng, Associated Press, December 19, 2019:
KUALA LUMPUR. Malaysia (AP) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged Muslim nations on Thursday to deepen financial and trade cooperation to fight what he described as U.S. economic hegemony, using an Islamic conference in Malaysia as a platform to decry American sanctions against his country.
Rouhani proposed an Islamic financial payment with Muslim countries trading in local currencies and the creation of a Muslim cryptocurrency to cut reliance on the U.S. dollar and weather the effects of market fluctuation.
He repeated his assertion that the U.S. has used economic sanctions as the “main tools of domineering hegemony and bullying” of other nations….
Rouhani said the U.S. sought to cripple Iran with the “heaviest sanctions” but the country’s economy is on the mend and moving away from reliance on oil.
“The Muslim world should be designing measures to save themselves from the domination of the United States dollar and the American financial regime,” he said at the opening ceremony of a three-day conference that includes leaders from Turkey, Qatar and host Malaysia.
Rouhani suggested the creation of a special banking and financial system among Muslim nations, using local currencies for trade and giving each other trade privileges to deepen linkages….
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a veiled criticism of the OIC, telling the conference that the platform that brings the Muslim world together was besieged by a “lack of implementation.”
“We still haven’t made any progress regarding the Palestinian cause, we still can’t stop the exploitation of our resources, we still can’t say ‘stop’ to the fragmentation of the Muslim world over sectarianism, that’s why,” said Erdogan.
Muslims account for 94% of worldwide conflict with one out of three weapons sold globally finding its way to the Middle East, he said. “The Muslims are using their resources for armament and for conflict and while doing so they are enriching the Western arm dealers,” he said….