PM Mahathir Hails Iran’s Resistance, Progress
KUALA LUMPUR (Kayhan Intl.) -- Iran, Malaysia, Turkey and Qatar are considering trading among themselves in gold and through a barter system as a hedge against any future economic sanctions on them, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Saturday.
At the end of an Islamic summit in Malaysia, Mahathir praised Iran and Qatar for withstanding economic embargoes and said it was important for the Muslim world to be self-reliant to face future threats.
"With the world witnessing nations making unilateral decisions to impose such punitive measures, Malaysia and other nations must always bear in mind that it can be imposed on any of us,” Mahathir said.
The Malaysian prime minister said years of embargo on Iran has not prevented the oil-producing country from progress, noting that it proudly stands as a nation with the fourth highest number of engineers in the world.
Mahathir saw a need for an economically self-reliant Muslim political bloc that could withstand the threat of geopolitical tension.
"That is the more reason for us to be self-reliant and work towards that with other Muslims nations to ensure that if and when such measures are imposed upon us, we are capable of facing it,” he said.
Observers said the KL Summit was born from frustration of participating nations toward the perceived "hand-wringing” and inability of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to solve Muslim causes.
U.S.-allied Arab states Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar about 2-1/2-years ago over allegations it backs terrorism, a charge Doha denies. Iran, meanwhile, has been hit badly after the United States reimposed sanctions on it last year.
"I have suggested that we re-visit the idea of trading using the gold dinar and barter trade among us,” Mahathir said, referring to the Islamic medieval gold coin.
"We are seriously looking into this and we hope that we will be able to find a mechanism to put it into effect.”
The leaders agreed they needed do more business among themselves and trade in each other’s currencies.
Areas of collaboration included advanced technology; media collaboration; center of excellence; food security and youth leadership and exchange programs.
"There are several more in the pipeline which are being worked out resulting from discussions during this summit,” Mahathir said.
The prime minster said he had proposed an alternative to the U.S. dollar for trade a long time ago, but the efforts to that end have been hampered by world powers.
Earlier, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani proposed the use of cryptocurrency among Muslim nations as an alternative to the U.S. dollar.
Some 450 delegates comprising leaders, intellectuals, politicians and non-governmental organizations from 56 countries attended the four-day summit.
The summit discussed major issues affecting Muslims, including the displacement of Muslims worldwide, food security, national/cultural identity, and Islamophobia, technology, trade, internet governance, and security.
At the end of an Islamic summit in Malaysia, Mahathir praised Iran and Qatar for withstanding economic embargoes and said it was important for the Muslim world to be self-reliant to face future threats.
"With the world witnessing nations making unilateral decisions to impose such punitive measures, Malaysia and other nations must always bear in mind that it can be imposed on any of us,” Mahathir said.
The Malaysian prime minister said years of embargo on Iran has not prevented the oil-producing country from progress, noting that it proudly stands as a nation with the fourth highest number of engineers in the world.
Mahathir saw a need for an economically self-reliant Muslim political bloc that could withstand the threat of geopolitical tension.
"That is the more reason for us to be self-reliant and work towards that with other Muslims nations to ensure that if and when such measures are imposed upon us, we are capable of facing it,” he said.
Observers said the KL Summit was born from frustration of participating nations toward the perceived "hand-wringing” and inability of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to solve Muslim causes.
U.S.-allied Arab states Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar about 2-1/2-years ago over allegations it backs terrorism, a charge Doha denies. Iran, meanwhile, has been hit badly after the United States reimposed sanctions on it last year.
"I have suggested that we re-visit the idea of trading using the gold dinar and barter trade among us,” Mahathir said, referring to the Islamic medieval gold coin.
"We are seriously looking into this and we hope that we will be able to find a mechanism to put it into effect.”
The leaders agreed they needed do more business among themselves and trade in each other’s currencies.
Areas of collaboration included advanced technology; media collaboration; center of excellence; food security and youth leadership and exchange programs.
"There are several more in the pipeline which are being worked out resulting from discussions during this summit,” Mahathir said.
The prime minster said he had proposed an alternative to the U.S. dollar for trade a long time ago, but the efforts to that end have been hampered by world powers.
Earlier, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani proposed the use of cryptocurrency among Muslim nations as an alternative to the U.S. dollar.
Some 450 delegates comprising leaders, intellectuals, politicians and non-governmental organizations from 56 countries attended the four-day summit.
The summit discussed major issues affecting Muslims, including the displacement of Muslims worldwide, food security, national/cultural identity, and Islamophobia, technology, trade, internet governance, and security.
No comments:
Post a Comment