Iran Proposes Multilateral Currency Fund at Shanghai Plus Summit

WANA (Sep 01) – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday, September 01, 2025, proposed the creation of a multilateral currency fund to counter sanctions during his address at the “Shanghai Plus” Summit.

Emphasizing that “countries must reduce their dependence on the dollar,” Pezeshkian said Iran suggests developing the initiative of “Special Accounts and Clearing” within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a practical mechanism to strengthen financial cooperation.

He explained that this initiative rests on three main pillars:

• Expanding national financial settlements and reducing reliance on the dollar in economic exchanges.
• Establishing a joint digital infrastructure using central bank digital currencies for secure and transparent payments.
• Creating a multilateral currency fund to support countries exposed to sanctions pressure or liquidity crises.

Pezeshkian noted that while the post-Cold War world, due to unilateralist policies, did not fulfill humanity’s aspiration for a more peaceful order, the experience of the SCO has kept that hope alive. He added that expanding the organization’s dialogue with like-minded countries under the “Shanghai Plus” format offers a valuable opportunity to deepen and broaden cooperation.

“Our world needs a new understanding and design for global governance,” he said, stressing that such a framework must move away from a power-based logic and replace it with one based on equality and justice.

The full text of President Pezeshkian’s speech is as follows:

“In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Mr. President,

Honorable Presidents, Prime Ministers,

Distinguished Delegations,

Since its establishment, the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been one of the rare opportunities for dialogue and exchange of views among countries whose shared concern has always been peace, cooperation, and coordinated efforts to create a more just and secure world.

Over the past three decades, the SCO has promoted a new model of regional and international cooperation—one not based on enmity or identity-based confrontation, but rather on cooperation, mutual trust, and respect for diversity. While the post-Cold War world, due to unilateralist endeavors, failed to fulfill humanity’s aspiration for a more peaceful order, the experience of the SCO has kept alive the hope that diverse countries, with different cultural-civilizational backgrounds and varied political, economic, and military positions, can interact and cooperate as equals, without seeking dominance over one another. The SCO’s experience has shown that cooperation—especially among developing countries and emerging economies—can provide practical responses to global challenges such as economic inequality, sanctions pressure, climate change, and transnational security crises.

Expanding the Organization’s dialogue with like-minded countries under the “Shanghai Plus” format also offers a valuable opportunity to deepen and broaden this cooperation.

Distinguished Colleagues,

Our world needs a new vision and design for global cooperation. Such a design must first move away from power-based logic and replace it with logic based on equality and justice. All countries, regardless of size or wealth, must enjoy equal rights and representation in global governance. Fortunately, the prevailing discourse in SCO discussions and declarations, thanks to the commitment of all members, has always been based on the pursuit of peace and security through justice and development. In this regard, we hope that, after reaching a common understanding and establishing multiple mechanisms, the SCO will place greater emphasis on the quality of its role in major global issues—especially those that blatantly undermine justice and development—and display its role with greater clarity.

Moreover, expanding cooperation with the Global South—particularly in financial collaboration and joint infrastructure investment—must be placed more seriously on the Organization’s agenda. We believe that, given its capacities, the SCO can become a coordinating hub and a decisive pole in the utilization of new technologies and artificial intelligence. The Islamic Republic of Iran, endowed with significant scientific capital, energy resources, and transit position, is ready to cooperate in these areas.

Iran’s geographic location at the crossroads between East and West offers a major advantage for linking transit corridors under the Belt and Road Initiative. Combined with Iran’s unique stability and security, this creates an important basis for integrating Iran into the Belt and Road project and connecting its transit networks.

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,

In recent years—and particularly in recent months—the people of Iran have tasted the bitter experience of attempts to impose peace through power, in the form of various sanctions and military aggression. Over the past two decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite acting fully within its legal rights, has consistently made every effort to resolve existing ambiguities through dialogue and negotiation. Nonetheless, this past June, we were subjected to aggression even as the United States hypocritically sat at the negotiating table with Iran. At the same time, we are now threatened by European countries with the re-imposition of international sanctions, despite their total failure to fulfill their own commitments, while Iran’s nuclear activities have been subjected to the most intensive international monitoring. For this reason, we expect the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the independent countries of the world to play their effective and responsible role in the face of these injustices.

I declare here that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been—and continues to be—ready to find a diplomatic solution for the peaceful resolution of its nuclear program. The failed recourse of the United States and the Zionist regime to military aggression demonstrated that the military option is ineffective and faces the heroic resistance of the Iranian people. Resorting to the so-called “snapback” mechanism will only further complicate matters and escalate tensions. We advise the United States and Europe to abandon confrontational approaches and instead turn to diplomacy in order to reach a balanced and fair solution.

We once again emphasize that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization must pursue peace-making initiatives in its surrounding world in a more organized manner. As one of the most important independent and justice-seeking institutions in the world, the Organization must in particular, develop a specific and comprehensive plan to address the protracted crisis in West Asia and the painful issue of the deliberate killing and starvation of innocent people in Gaza and throughout Palestine.

What is happening today in Gaza is undoubtedly a stain on the conscience of humanity and a difficult test for all individuals and governments who witness these brutal crimes. It is now completely clear that without finding a just solution to the Palestinian question, no plan for peace and justice in the world can succeed. Our solution has always been the participation of all the original inhabitants of Palestine in a free election to realize the right to self-determination, as the most fundamental principle of international law.

In conclusion, I wish to express my gratitude to the government and people of China for successfully hosting this summit, and to announce the Islamic Republic of Iran’s alignment with the constructive views of President Xi Jinping regarding the necessity of reform in global governance, as articulated in the Global Governance Initiative. The Islamic Republic of Iran considers such perspectives an effective step toward achieving a more just world.

Thank you for your attention.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the 25th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus. Social media/ WANA News Agency