TEHRAN, Iran: Iran has cut in half the amount of U.S. dollars in its foreign exchange reserves over the past several months in another attempt to weaken Washington's influence on the Islamic country's economy, state-run television reported Sunday.
The report said Jafar Mojarrad, vice-governor of Central Bank of Iran, announced that the country in May reduced the amount of U.S. dollars in its foreign exchange reserves to 20 percent compared to 40 percent in December.
More than 80 percent of Iran's US$70 million (€52.1 million) foreign revenues comes from oil exports that are mostly traded in U.S. dollars.
Since coming to power in August 2005, hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has tried to reduce Iran's reliance on U.S. dollars in response to Washington's policies toward Tehran especially over its disputed nuclear program.
The U.S. and some of its allies fear that Iran is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapon program. Iran denies the charge, insisting its nuclear program is solely for the peaceful purpose of producing energy.
 The U.N Security Council is debating whether to impose further sanctions on Iran for defying its demand to suspend uranium enrichment-related activities.
Since December, the council has imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt enrichment, a process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material needed for a nuclear warhead.
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