“We are hearing this for the first time — that Iran and Turkey are of the opinion that we should use an alternative to the US dollar.

“We can use our own currencies or have a common currency,” he said.

“It looks like sometimes when we use the US dollar, there are sanctions that can curb economic development,” he added.

He was speaking to reporters after a round-table discussion involving him, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyib Erdogan, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and participants from other Muslim countries at the KL Summit 2019.

He said he had proposed an alternative to the US dollar for trade a long time ago and efforts were taken in that direction but there was a reaction from the superpowers.

“Their reaction was to stop us from using any other currency because using a country’s currency gives power to that country,” he added.

The US has imposed sanctions on Iran to force it into negotiating new limits on its nuclear and ballistic-missile programmes.

Earlier, Rouhani had proposed the use of cryptocurrency among Muslim nations as an alternative to the US dollar.

His proposal for an alternative currency is not the first as, in 2002, Malaysia had pressed for the use of the gold dinar for trade among Muslim nations.