TASS - Payments in national currencies in the Russian-Iranian trade turnover account for over 20%, Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanai said in an interview aired by the Rossiya-24 TV news channel on Tuesday, adding that their share is rising.

"According to our statistics, currently over 20% of our trade transactions are made in national currencies, and that (figure) is rising, the central banks are engaged in a dialogue, and the mechanism is being developed. There is no other way out," he said, adding that Iran’s payments with Iraq and Turkey are also made in national currencies.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said earlier that around 25-30% of Russian-Iranian payments are made in national currencies.

In August, First Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov noted that the US dollar was becoming a risky settlement instrument in the international trade. He also did not rule out that the US dollar might be superseded by national currencies in oil trade.

On October 3, Russia’s Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin said that the Finance Ministry, the Economic Development Ministry and the Central Bank had made their proposals regarding the dedollarization plan for the Russian economy for the government’s consideration.