Even amid the torrent of disquieting news from the Middle East in recent weeks, an Iranian suggestion that it might start offering safe passage to oil tankers that paid in Chinese yuan, instead of the U.S. dollar, raised eyebrows.
Sourced to an anonymous Iranian official, the threat sparked a spate of warnings that Tehran might use its control of the Strait of Hormuz not to just threaten the world’s access to petroleum, but also upend the dollar-based international monetary system. By striking a blow against the petrodollar, Iran could initiate the unraveling of the dollar’s dominance, itself a linchpin of U.S. power—or so the argument goes. Those citing such ominous scenarios envisioned other possible dangers, including the debilitation of America’s security guarantees to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil exporters.
