It's not about oil, religion, freedom, or anything else. The reason for Iraq was to make sure everyone pays for oil in US DOLLARS. The reason Iran wants nukes is because they want to sell oil in EUROS instead of US dollars and they're afraid the US will do to Iran what the US did to Iraq when Saddam started selling his oil in EUROS instead of Dollars in 2001.
I believe the allegation was not that Iran simply wanted to sell oil for Euros, but that they were (are?) planning on setting up a euro-based exchange to facilitate trading of oil, which would compete with the NYMEX and IPE.
Do a search for "Iranian Oil Bourse" if you want more information.
Here's an interesting interview with the originator of the idea:
http://www.energybulletin.net/19237.html
(It sounds like the Iranian exchange is not going ahead because of power struggles within the Iranian government.)
Excerpt from interview (CC = Chris Cook, the man who originally proposed the idea):
JJ: Perhaps you could explain that a bit more for me: I've never been an oil trader, I come from an arts background, my interest has been only for a few years since I found out about Peak Oil.
CC: Sure. Oil is typically priced using what are called "Benchmarks" , and also producers and consumers manage risk, the price going up or down, by using derivatives, a form of risk management tool. The derivatives should derive from the underlying market, but using the current market architecture it is possible to generate unnecessary levels of market volatility, and in fact the entry of hedge funds into the market in a big way in the last two or three years has been responsible for a large amount of current market volatility.
The market needs to be totally reconfigured, and I don't see that happening unless there is some kind of trading disaster in the market. Which I think is inevitable, by the way.
JJ: Right. If we could go back to your original proposal idea, which as I understand it is putting producers and consumers together - you described it as a "Napster" of the oil industry?
CC: Yes, the logic of the internet is to cut out unneccessary intermediaries - disintermediation - and to connect the ultimate buyer and the ultimate seller more directly. At the moment the middlemen own the market, and set the rules to suit themselves. Profits are far higher by the middlemen than they need to be. They are making super-profits because of the way the market is. I don't begrudge intermediaries a return on capital, but I do begrudge them a ridiculous return on capital, particularly when they are using unfair or inequitable ways of trading, abuse of market information, that sort of thing, which is definitely what goes on now.
JJ: How will your proposal change that?
CC: The proposal has several aspects to it, firstly the direct connection of the participants, with a less dominant role for the intermediaries, the second relates to the nature of the instruments, and here we have some fairly simple, but new mechanisms based upon ownership of assets, as opposed to of futures contracts to take delivery of those assets. We are looking at an entirely different but simple mechanism based upon ownership of assets rather than futures based contracts to take delivery of those assets.
JJ: OK, you've got some oil, and I want to buy some, but we've never met each other or traded before, so give me an example of how this hypothetical exchange would work.
CC: There would be a simple market mechanism, perhaps a daily auction, or if there were not enough market participants to justify an auction, then some sort of price-setting mechanism, based on a benchmark set in the Persian Gulf. The producers would then have to make available quantities of oil to go into the open market. You see one of the issues has been, in particular the Saudis and the Iranians, have entered into long-term contracts on the basis in that it cannot go anywhere other than to the buyer, if you cannot take oil and sell it on if you don't need then you are not going to have a liquid market.
We need to look at having a pool of oil, or other petroleum products, available for trading. It is the existence of that pool which forms the heart of our architecture for the contract design. It's simple but it hasn't been done before.
http://www.redhotpawn.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=35197&page=24
Originally posted by ivanhoe
http://en.nufdi.org/News/News_mainf.cfm?Newsha=954
954 / Mar 7, 2006
Iran is The Next Battle Field
By: Dr. Elias Akleh*
March 5, 2006
Iran is the next in line target in the cross hair of the American administration. [b]Iran is making the same “fatal mistake” Iraq did that led to the American/British invasion. Iran is opening its own Iran Oil Bourse, scheduled to open on March 20th, competing against the two leading oil exchanges; the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and London’s International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), using Euro as trading currency. Such a move will threaten the global hegemony of the American Dollar, and could cause the total collapse of the American economy. Although its troops are spread thin the American administration has no choice but to attack Iran using the threat of WMD (Iran’s nuclear program) again as an excuse for the war. The American propaganda machine has been set in motion to brainwash nations (mainly Europeans) against Iran in preparation for the attack expected to happen between late March and mid April.
To maintain the purchasing power of any currency its value must be backed by gold. The American Dollar is the exception to this rule. The Dollar is a fiat currency backed only by oil trade that uses only Dollar as its currency. Every country in the world must hold American Dollars to be able to purchase oil. The more demand for oil the more demand for the Dollar. This demand supports the value of the Dollar, and in turn supports the American economy. Switching oil trade from Dollar to Euro or to any other currency would reduce the demand for the Dollar, cause the reduction of its purchasing power and the inevitable collapse of the American economy.
Understanding the risk Iran is trying to win as much partners as it could on its side. Iran gave the Asian Capital Partners and the Future Bank of Bahrain permissions to invest 100 million Euros each in its stock market. Three other Lebanese big investors were also given permission to invest up to 50 million Euros in Iran’s stock market. Iran is now closing a deal with China that would make Iran the leading oil supplier to china. This long-term deal is valued at $100 billion. China’s demand for oil is expected to soar exponentially in the next few years. Iran is also negotiating with European gas companies such as Total, Shell and Repsol in an attempt to give them rights to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Iran.
Iran was neither the first nor the only country to consider switching to Euro. In November 2000 Iraq made that shift. Through its Oil for Food Program Iraq had converted all its money in its UN account into Euro. It also had converted its $10 billion reserve fund into Euro. The American/British invasion of Iraq had put a stop to this switch, and they came to control the second largest oil source in the world, giving them a “veto power” in OPEC.
Gulf States were also considering partial switch to the Euro before the invasion of Iraq. This idea was put on hold for fear of receiving the same fate Iraq is living in now. Yet revival of the idea has been seen lately especially in Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan invasion, Iraq invasion and the unconditional American support to Israel has inflamed anti-American sentiments within Arab and Muslim countries. This anger has also touched Gulf States that are considered allies or cronies to the American administration. Violence has hit Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and some attacks were directed at major oil fields. The Saudi ruling family is afraid of escalating anti-Americans hatred that might possibly lead to more violence and even a revolt. Saudi family is afraid that European countries, now allies to America, might get fed up with American bullying and fear the expanding American empire might monopolize energy resources and thus controls global economy. The Saudis are afraid the Europe might eventually join other countries to put an end to the American power expansion especially in the Arab World. European countries, also, like to have a strong Euro to maintain strong economy. After all that was their main reason for converting their currencies into unified Euro. The Saudis see the American Dollar is about to lose its value due to American huge budget deficit climbing higher than $3 trillion. They decided to search for new customers, who could pay for their oil with solid currency. For the first time in years Saudi king Abdullah leaves his country into a visit to China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan in search for such customers.
The Norwegian Bourse Director Sven Andersen expressed his wish to establish an oil bourse priced in Euro in his country to boost its economy. Such a bourse would compete with the bourse in London and would give oil customers other options for payments. He invited the Norwegian State oil and Hydro to support his idea. Such ideas have been discussed for years in Norway, but have never gone any further than just talk.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is also trying to get away from the fiat Dollar. He had entered into trade agreements with other South American countries, such as Cuba, to barter services and goods for oil without the use of any currency. Bolivia’s new President Evo Morales has promised to nationalize the country’s oil fields, and has also shown tendencies to shy away from the Dollar.
If all oil producing countries switch to Euro the rest of the world would dump the Dollar causing it to drastically lose its value. To understand the seriousness of this let us look at China alone. China has an excess of $800 billion in its foreign exchange reserves. China buys most of its oil from Saudi Arabia and trade between the two countries has exceeded $14 billion in late 2005. If China alone dumps the Dollar the American economy would suffer greatly. Now imagine what would happen if other countries, such as Japan, India, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, would also dump the Dollar.
The threat to the American economy is real and is growing. The success of Iran’s bourse would be the breaking point, and the entire world is watching to see how the crisis unfolds. To avoid a collapse the American administration has no choice but to attack Iran, destroy its bourse, and control its oil fields. Iran is considered the world third largest oil resource. Controlling the world major oil resources (Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) the American administration would reinforce the hegemony of the Dollar and saves its own economy. To legitimize and to justify an attack on Iran the American administration launched a media campaign to portray Iran as rash, irresponsible, hostile, radical, dangerous to the world, and terror supporting country. Nuclear Iran is portrayed as a danger to world peace whose main goal is to wipe Israel off the map.
The political attack against Iran intensified after its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was brave enough to criticize how Europeans had treated their holocaust guilt by creating Israel in the heart of the Arab World rather than on European land, thus creating a Palestinian holocaust. The American/British/Israeli triad focused their political attack on the new target: Iran. Ahmadinejad, himself, was identified as one of the American hostage takers during the 1979 Iranian revolution. Israelis are trying to persecute him in German courts as a holocaust denier. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had described Iran as the “central banker” for global terrorism, and, ignoring American meddling into the Middle East, accused Iran of trying to destabilize the Middle East. The Bush administration is seeking $75 million from Congress to step up its propaganda campaign against the Iranian government.
Bush considers Iran the primary supporter of global terrorism. After all he had named Iran as part of the “axis of evil”. In an attempt to incite Israelis against Iran and to pave the way for a possible Israeli air strike against Iran, Bush stresses in his speeches that Iran has the destruction of Israel as an important part of its agenda. He states that Iran wants to “wipe Israel off the map”. Spreading fear of alleged Iranian terrorist intentions throughout the globe Bush stated: “Iran armed with nuclear weapon poses a great threat to the security of the world”.
Iranians do not have yet the technology to enrich uranium, and even after obtaining the technology it would take them five to eight years to enrich enough uranium to build one bomb. Some European countries, such as Germany and France, had joined in the political attack against Iran. They demanded that Iran abandons its “nuclear ambition” and follow the dictate of the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it had singed. Nuclear non-proliferation is not the real issue here since President Bush himself had recently signed a nuclear treaty with India by which the US would supply India with nuclear fuel. India, Pakistan, and Israel have nuclear weapons, yet the US has not done anything about them
Although the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had stated that there is no evidence that Iran is building atomic weapons the European Union and the American administration are trying to take the case to the Security Council to incriminate Iran. Iran had opened its nuclear facilities to inspection, and insists that it has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Iranians are not worried about taking their case to the Security Council because they are relying on Russia and China to use their veto power to block any resolution against them. Chinese do not want to lose their major resource for oil, and Russians do not want to lose a big customer for their weapons. Besides Iranians are aware that if the US attacks their country, the flow of Iranian oil would be cut off, causing the pr...