At the summit in Kuala Lumpur, the Prime Minister of Malaysia announced his intention to return the medieval Islamic gold dinar, to create an indirect trade system with Qatar and Iran
Bypass the banking system. Gold // Photo: Reuters
Iran, Malaysia, Turkey and Qatar are considering trading gold between them through a barter system to counter the economic sanctions in the banking system against Iran and Qatar - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahir Muhammad said on Saturday.
At the conclusion of an Islamic summit in Malaysia, Mahir praised Iran and Qatar for claiming economic sanctions against them, saying it was important for the Muslim world to rely only on future threats. "When the world is up to countries that make unilateral decisions to impose such punitive measures, Malaysia and other countries must always keep in mind that it can be imposed on each of us," said Mahir.
Arab states with allies in the United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomacy and trade relations with Qatar two years ago, after being accused of encouraging and backing terrorism, a charge that denies denial. Iran's economy has been hit hard after the United States tightened its sanctions last year.
"I suggested we re-discuss the idea of trading through the gold dinar," Mahair said, referring to the medieval Islamic gold coin. "We are seriously considering it, and hope we can find a mechanism for effective implementation of this form of trade."
The summit was heavily criticized by Saudi Arabia and Muslim countries that are members of the Islamic Cooperation Organization, the OIC. From Malaysia it was reported that all OIC members (57 countries) were invited to the summit in Kuala Lumpur, but only about twenty showed up.
