Iran has asked Japanese refiners to pay in yen currency for all crude oil purchases in an apparent attempt to reduce the Middle Eastern country's US dollar holdings, a news report said Saturday.
Iran, in a standoff with the US over its uranium enrichment program, has asked to switch to yen-based transactions immediately, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported, citing an unidentified oil industry official.
Japanese refiners were considering the proposal, received Wednesday from the state-run National Iranian Oil Co, but were reluctant to make the switch because they saw no advantages to it, the official was quoted as saying.
Iran has refused to halt its uranium enrichment program, despite the threat of UN sanctions, saying it only wants to produce electricity. Washington accuses Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran has already taken other measures to reduce its dependence on the US currency. Earlier this year, Tehran announced it had begun pulling its foreign currency accounts out of European banks to protect its assets from possible sanctions.
Tokyo has been reducing its Iranian oil imports amid the nuclear standoff. Still, Iran remains Japan's fourth-largest oil supplier, shipping 1.59 million kiloliters (11,130 barrels) of crude in May according to Japan's trade ministry.
Most Japanese refiners pay dollars for the oil they purchase from Iran, according to Kyodo.
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