Iran finds basket of currencies profitable

Iran has significantly profited from the replacement of the US dollar by a basket of foreign currencies, the head of Iran's Central Bank has said.

"The basket of currencies has been adjusted by Iran's Central Bank in a way that it comprises a set of different currencies," Mahmoud Bahmani told Mehr news Agency on Tuesday, adding that due to the initiative, the country would not lose overall after a devaluation of certain currencies.

He added that the Iranian Central Bank examines regularly all the developments of the currencies market and acts appropriately.

Earlier in September, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the replacement of the US dollar by the euro in the country's foreign exchange accounts.

Iran had announced earlier that the euro would replace the greenback in the country's oil transactions. The country has also called on other OPEC members to ditch the sinking dollar in favor of the more credible euro.

Meanwhile, the Persian Gulf Arab states have recently started secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France "to end dollar dealings for oil", a new report reveals.

According to the report written by Independent's Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, the proposal was to replace US dollar for crude oil trade by a basket of different currencies over a period of nine years until 2018.