so where then, is the 'real and present danger' ?

They hate our freedoms!!!!

They hate our freedoms!!!!

Iran Seeks Euro-Denominated Oil Market

The Associated Press Friday, May 5, 2006; 6:22 AM

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's oil ministry took a step toward establishing an oil trading market denominated in euros, rather than the U.S. dollar, by granting a license for the bourse, state-run television reported Friday.

Just who would trade on the market wasn't immediately apparent. Iranian television did not mention traders or governments willing to market or purchase products on the exchange, nor did it say when it would open for business.

"Iran has registered an oil bourse on the Persian Gulf island of Kish in which oil would be sold in euros," the broadcast said. Kish, located off the coast of southern Iran, houses the offices of some 100 Iranian and foreign oil companies.

Oil trading is currently only conducted in dollars on markets in New York and London.

Iranian legislators earlier this year urged the government to set up the market to reduce the United States' influence over the Islamic republic's economy. They also criticized Oil Minister Sayed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, saying he had delayed setting up the bourse.

If the market succeeds, observers say euro-denominated oil sales could eventually convince central bankers to convert some U.S. dollar reserves into euros, possibly causing a decline in the dollar's value.

First floated in 2004 when reformist president Mohammad Khatami was in power, the idea of a euros-traded oil bourse gained new life after the stridently nationalist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president last summer.

As the fourth-largest oil producing country in the world, the second in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries and controlling about 5 percent of the global oil supply, Iran has a measure of influence over international oil markets. Tehran also partially controls the Persian Gulf's Strait of Hormuz through which much of the world's oil supply must pass.

Iran has sought to wield its oil resources as a bargaining tool in Tehran's ongoing standoff with the West over its nuclear program.

No, they hate democracy and they hate American values.

..and we hate the fact they have ''our'' oil?

so where then, is the 'real and present danger' ?

Hopefully the Iranians had the good sense to send a copy to a third party

Okay then.. Last time I try and make a funny without stating my position first.

Nuke thew **stards before they nuke us

Forgot to use spealchock when i speeled thew. I geuss you are right we will need a special selective nuke that only kills the **stards and not the ones with father's,Ill be working on it diligently and get back to you later after you kiss my politically incorrect ass

Actually, seriously, I doubt that there will be any movement on the part of the U.S. gov't regardless of the content of the letter. I suspect the U.S. won't release an accurate, unedited text of it's contents and will claim that it is all fluff with no substance.

there should always be an attempt to keep the peace

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Iran's president dismissed western concerns over its nuclear program as "a big lie" Wednesday, one day after key UN Security Council members agreed to present Tehran with a choice of incentives or sanctions in deciding whether to suspend uranium enrichment.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Indonesia for a three-day state visit, told reporters in Jakarta that Iran will "absolutely not back out" of defending its right to pursue new technology, accusing the United States and other western countries of monopolizing the nuclear technology market to secure profits while engaging in non-peaceful proliferation.

"They pretend that they are concerned about the nature of the nuclear program of the Islamic republic of Iran," he said after meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "This is a big lie."

Meanwhile, in a letter to Time magazine published on its website, a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered new options for solving the impasse with the United States and its allies. Hassan Rohani, Iran's former top nuclear negotiator, said Tehran would consider ratifying an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) protocol that provides for intrusive and snap inspections and would also address the question of preventing a pullout from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The current Iranian negotiator, Ali Larijani, said Tuesday that Tehran had no intention of withdrawing from the treaty and promised to co-operate if the UN atomic watchdog agency, rather than the Security Council, dealt with the issue of its nuclear program.

Iran ended all voluntary co-operation with the IAEA in February, including allowing snap inspections of its nuclear facilities.

At a meeting Tuesday, representatives of the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany agreed to tell Iran the possible consequences of its refusal to halt its enrichment program and the benefits if it abandons it.

The move will delay a U.S.-backed draft UN resolution that could lead to sanctions and possible military action if Iran does not suspend uranium enrichment.

U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday she and her counterparts on the UN Security Council agreed to give Iran another two weeks to reconsider its position.

"We agreed to continue to seek a Security Council resolution but that we would wait for a couple of weeks while the Europeans design an offer to the Iranians that would make clear they have a choice that would allow them to have a civil nuclear program, if that is indeed what they want," Rice said on ABC's Good Morning America.

The Chinese and Russians have balked at the British, French and U.S. efforts to put the resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Such a move would declare Iran a threat to international peace and security and set the stage for further measures if Tehran refuses to comply. Those measures could range from breaking diplomatic relations to economic sanctions and military action.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies, saying it aims only to generate energy.

Yudhoyono, speaking at a joint news conference after he met with Ahmadinejad for about 90 minutes, said he believed Iran was willing to resolve the nuclear standoff peacefully through further negotiations, and offered to help mediate. Yudhoyono's spokesman, Dino Pati Djalal, said Iran was receptive to the offer.

"We need to breathe new life into the negotiations," he said.

Such a move would declare Iran a threat to international peace

Isn't WAR a threat to peace? (kind of?)