YEREVAN, December 23. /ARKA/. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last Thursday urged Muslim nations to deepen financial and trade cooperation to fight what he described as US economic hegemony, using an Islamic conference in Malaysia as a platform to decry American sanctions against his country, Vesti Ekonomiki reported, citing an AP report.

Rouhani repeated his assertion that the US has used economic sanctions as the “main tools of domineering hegemony and bullying” of other nations. Rouhani said the US 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 the three-day conference that included leaders from Turkey, Qatar and host Malaysia.
Rouhani suggested the creation of a special banking and financial mechanism among Muslim nations, using local currencies for trade and giving each other trade privileges to deepen linkages.

He said rising extremism as well as challenges such as weak governance, poverty and corruption are endangering sovereignty and paving the way for Western interference in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and other Muslim nations. But if Muslim countries harness their collective strength, they could confront such problems, he said.

Rouhani proposed the Kuala Lumpur conference establish a joint fund to finance technological cooperation among Muslim nations, set up a a joint research center in artificial intelligence and cyberspace, and create a Muslim market in digital economy and cryptocurrency. -0-