Iran Agrees To Replace Dollar With Euro

IRNA
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - as dependence on the US currency would have negative
consequences for Iran in the long-term.

The Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) is agreable to replacing
the US dollar with the euro in Iranian foreign transactions, said a
member of the Majlis Planning and Budget Commission, Morteza Tamaddon,
on Saturday.

Speaking to IRNA, the MP said the move is part of Iran's general policy
towards the West as dependence on the US currency would have negative
consequences for Iran in the long-term.

Reducing Iran's dependence on the US dollar would eventually make the
country less vulnerable to the dollar, argued the MP.

Referring to the move as a "positive approach," Tamaddon
said Iran's decision to replace the US dollar with the euro was not
politically motivated.

"It has nothing to do with political issues. Even European countries
have concluded that they should replace the US dollar with a stronger
currency," said the MP.

He said that although some problems could arise as a result of the
shift to the euro, Tehran would enjoy monetary flexibility in its international
transactions.

In case the West pulls through with its planned economic sanctions
on Iran, Tamaddon said the country would still have access to its monetary
accounts based on the euro.

Iran's minister of finance announced last week that the government
had decided to replace the US dollar with the euro in its international
transactions.

He said that the move was in response to the Bush administration's
hostile policies towards Iran.