Ahmadinejad: Dollar is “A Worthless Piece of Paper” – OPEC Agrees

AHN News | Nov 19, 2007

by Isabelle Duerme

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AHN) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced at the close of the OPEC summit Sunday that all participating members in the conference were willing to look at other currencies to use in the oil trade, with the reason being the currency’s rapid and continuous fall.

Ahmadinejad explained that the value of the U.S. dollar, which has been in a continuous decline as of recently, has become unsatisfactory for the 13 OPEC summit participants, and that each one will be consulting finance and oil ministers for the purpose of analyzing the oil in terms of pricing.

“All participating leaders showed an interest in changing their hard currency reserves to a credible hard currency,” Ahmadinejad said. “Some said producing countries should designate a single hard currency aside form the U.S. dollar…to form the basis of our oil trade.”

The Iranian president furthered that the decline of the American currency, and its negative effects on other countries, was the cause of faulty policies made by the Bush administration.

“They get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper,” Ahmadinejad spat out, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Iran, which has reportedly replaced the U.S. dollar with local currency in accepting payment for its oil, was apparently pushing the OPEC leaders to agree to the shift in currency use, suggesting the euro as a probable replacement.

U.S. ally Saudi Arabia was hesitant to the move, saying that to do so would cause a collapse of the dollar, according to the Agence France-Presse.

The idea of switching to another currency due to the dollar’s decline was supported by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who said that “the empire of the dollar has to end.”

Chavez, who is also for considering the euro as a replacement, described the dollar as having been “in free-fall without a parachute.”

There is speculation of Iran and Venezuela’s political intentions behind the statements, as they are identified as openly antagonistic to the United States.