Left I on the News

[First posted 12/18, 10:26 p.m.; updated and bumped (other new posts below)]

Reading between the lines:

Iran is to shift its foreign currency reserves from dollars to euros and use the euro for oil deals in response to US-led pressure on its economy.

In a widely expected move, Tehran said it would use the euro for all future commercial transactions overseas.

An Iranian spokesman said all its foreign exchange transactions would be conducted in euros and its national budget would also be calculated in euros as well as its own currency.

"There will be no reliance on dollars," said Gholam-Hussein Elham.

The entire world would be wise to follow suit. The use of dollars just gives the U.S. one more weapon in its arsenal to use against those it calls its "enemies" (who, without exception, haven't the slightest intention of attacking the U.S., but who unfortunately don't have that stance reciprocated).

Update: Well, that didn't take long:

The U.S. Central Command is aggressively planning a naval buildup in the Persian Gulf, including the addition of a second aircraft carrier, in response to a series of aggressive actions by Iran, U.S. military officials told NBC News on Tuesday.

No euphemisms, either:

CENTCOM plans to use 'gunboat diplomacy,' officials tell NBC News

And just what comprises a "series of aggressive actions"?

Its support for Shiite militants and shipments of improvised explosive devices into the country — recent military naval exercises in the Gulf, and its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Allegations of Iranian shipments of IEDs into Iraq have been slung around for quite some time now; no proof has ever been offered, nor, of course, is there any significant evidence that Iran is "pursuing" nuclear weapons. And the idea that Iranian naval exercises are anything but defensive in nature, and somehow constitute an "aggressive action," is preposterous. Of course, to the imperialists, anything other than rolling over on your back and exposing your belly is an "aggressive action."