As the United States-Israel war on Iran — paused for two weeks on Wednesday amid fresh diplomatic talks — has roiled the global economy for more than a month, Iran and China have seized the opportunity to address a shared gripe about the global financial system.Their common cause: ending the hegemony of the US dollar.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listFor years, they say, Washington has leveraged the dominance of the dollar in international trade to exert influence and inflict pain on enemies and competitors, Iran and China included.The supremacy of the dollar is especially apparent in the global oil market, where about 80 percent of transactions are settled in the currency, according to a 2023 estimate by JP Morgan Chase.In Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit from the Gulf for about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, Tehran and Beijing have found a tool to boost the Chinese yuan as an alternative to the greenback.Under Iranian officials’ de facto toll booth regime, commercial vessels are being charged transit fees in yuan, according to multiple reports, the latest example of deepening Chinese-Iranian economic cooperation facilitated by China’s currency.While it is unclear how many vessels have made payments in yuan, at least two had done so as of March 25, according to Lloyd’s List.China’s Ministry of Commerce last week acknowledged the Lloyd’s List reporting in a social media post that appeared to confirm the use of yuan to settle payments.On Saturday, Iran’s embassy in Zimbabwe said in a social media post that it was time to add the “petroyuan” to the global oil market. Advertisement Tehran, which on Wednesday said it w …
