Iran flash point news items....

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/iran-moves-further-end-petrodollar-announces-will-accept-payment-gold-instead-dollars

Iran Moves Further To End Petrodollar, Announces Will Accept Payment In Gold Instead Of Dollars

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2012 13:22 -0500

• China
 
• Crude
 
• European Union
 
• Greece
 
• India
 
• Iran
 
• Japan
 
• Reuters

Much has been spun in recent weeks to indicate that as a result of collapsing trade, Iran's economy is in shambles and that the financial embargo hoisted upon the country by the insolvent, pardon, developed world is working. We had a totally different perspective on things "A Very Different Take On The "Iran Barters Gold For Food" Story" in which we essentially said that Iran, with the complicity of major trading partners like China, India and Russia is preparing to phase out the petrodollar: a move which would be impossible if key bilateral trade partners would not agree to it. Gradually it appears this is increasingly the case following a just released Reuters report that "Iran will take payment from its trading partners in gold instead of dollars, the Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted the central bank governor as saying on Tuesday."

Via Reuters:

Iranian financial institutions have been hit by sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union in an effort to force Tehran to halt its nuclear programme.

Significant difficulties in making dollar payments to Iranian banks have forced Iran's trading partners to look for alternative ways to settle transactions, including direct barter deals.

"In its trade transactions with other countries, Iran does not limit itself to the U.S. dollar, and the country can pay using its own currency," central bank governor Mahmoud Bahmani was quoted as saying. "If a country should so choose, it can pay in gold and we would accept that without any reservation."

The sanctions include a phased ban on importing oil from Iran, which EU member states are to implement by July.

China and India, two of the largest consumers of Iranian oil, have said they will continue imports, but Japan and Korea have announced cuts to quotas following pressure from the United States. As a result the value of Iran's rial has plummeted, pushing the price of goods sharply higher across the country.

And from the souce:

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Mahmoud Bahmani says the country can trade in currencies other than the American dollar in its foreign transactions.

“Iran does not just work with the dollar in trade transactions and every country can pay in its own currency,” said Mahmoud Bahmani on Tuesday.

Bahmani added that Tehran could receive gold in its transactions instead of currency transfers.

In case a country is willing to pay for the price of its imports from Iran in gold, there is no problem in this respect, he noted.

According to Bahmani, Iran imports commodities from China and India in exchange for the countries’ currencies. Tehran’s move is aimed at bypassing the upcoming freeze on CBI’s assets and the oil embargo, which the European Union's foreign ministers agreed to impose on the Islamic Republic.

Now this would be great news for Greece which as previously reported had at times relied for more than 50% of its crude imports on Iran. There is just one problem: very soon the country will no longer have said gold in its possession, as part of the preapproved Greek bailout of Europe, the country's constitution would be changed to reflect that even its gold now is part of the bailout conditions, and European banks have a lien on it. Especially if said gold is located in the basement of the NY Fed where it most likely resides.

As for other countries, such as China which we are confident has been quietly stockpiling gold in the last few years, and will make a surprise announcement any day now, as it did back in 2009... that's a different matter entirely.

and....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/iran-gasoline-china-idUSL5E8DR6KW20120227

* Five cargoes of gasoline in Jan, Feb shipped toIran

* Increased pressure force PetroChina to stop, traders say

By Humeyra Pamuk and Luke Pachymuthu

DUBAI/SINGAPORE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China has helped Iran dodge tightening sanctions this year by regularly selling it much-needed gasoline, shipping and trade sources said, but rising tensions could force even some Chinese companies to stop, at least temporarily.

China is the biggest buyer of Iranian crude oil and has condemned U.S. censure of one of its top trading companies for the gasoline trade. Beijing operates free of sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union.

A total of 350,000 tonnes, or around 10 cargoes of gasoline were shipped since the start of the year, shipping and trade sources said. Although an major oil producer, Iran's aging refineries struggle to produce enough fuel and imports are vital to fill the shortfall.

China's state oil traders - Unipec, Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp and Chinaoil - were among the regular gasoline suppliers of Iran, five Gulf-based oil traders said. The companies were not immediately available for comment.

Chinese companies have emerged as the major gasoline suppliers into Iran, especially after trading houses such as Vitol and Trafigura and major oil companies have stopped doing business with Tehran due to sanctions.

China is set to reduce the amount of crude it will buy from Iran this year, but still will remain a significant buyer and one of Tehran's biggest trading partners.

Its oil trade with Iran is worth some $20 billion a year and its imports rose by 30 percent to a record volume of 555,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year.

While many traders believe this partnership will not budge in the face of Washington's escalating pressure on the international community to stop doing business with Iran, it may put things on hold, at least for a while.

"Basically PetroChina was supplying them all through January but for now that appears to have stopped," one Gulf-based trader said. "Perhaps publicity and new sanctions were just too much for them," he added.

"PetroChina might have stopped as an entity. But they seem to be channeling all the trade through Zhuhai Zhenrong," another Gulf-based trader said.

Washington in January imposed sanctions on the state-run company, which it said was Iran's largest supplier of refined petroleum products.

Traders did not think the sanctions would have an impact on the company's capability to continue selling to Iran.

"They have this company like a cash settlement desk. All the trade they have goes through this company and why would they stop? They're buying Chinese cargoes, ships belong to China and getting the insurance in China," he said.

China denounced U.S. sanctions on Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, calling Washington's punishment an unreasonable step beyond international sanctions, aimed to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions, which Western governments say appear aimed at developing the means to make atomic weapons.

Iran says its nuclear activities are legitimate and for peaceful ends.

"In my opinion, the Chinese would never stop supplying to Iran," a third Gulf-based trader said. "They might go quiet for a while, and then a few months later we see an interesting fixture out of Singapore." (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, editing by William Hardy)

and....

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/201222892047284878.html

Iran 'intensifying clampdown' ahead of vote

Amnesty says government has increased "wave of arrests" in attempt to curb free speech before assembly elections. Last Modified: 28 Feb 2012 12:27 inShare15 Email Print Share Feedback

With their leaders under de-facto house arrest, the reformists remain virtually absent from the March 2 vote [Reuters]

Iran has “dramatically” escalated its crackdown on freedom of expression ahead of this week's parliamentary election, Amnesty International said in a report published on Tuesday. The report entitled "We are ordered to crush you: Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran" details repressive acts by the Iranian authorities since February 2011, including a recent wave of arrests.

The arrests, Amnesty said, have targeted lawyers, students, journalists, political activists and their relatives, as  well as religious and ethnic minorities, film-makers and people with international connections, particularly to media. "In Iran today you put yourself at risk if you do anything that might fall outside the increasingly narrow confines of what the authorities deem socially or politically acceptable," said Ann Harrison, interim deputy director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme. "Anything from setting up a social group on the Internet, forming or joining an NGO, or expressing your opposition to the status quo can land you in prison," she said. Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who were defeated in the controversial presidential elections in 2009, have been under de facto house arrest since February 2011. "This dreadful record really highlights the hypocrisy of the Iranian government's attempts to show solidarity with protesters in Egypt, Bahrain and other countries in the region," Amnesty said. 'Enemy propaganda' The crackdown has particularly worsened in the run-up to parliamentary elections due to take place on March 2, Amnesty said. Iran’s authorities, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have repeatedly called on security forces to be vigilant against “enemy threats” in the period leading up to the vote. “The enemy's propaganda machines and the media of arrogant circles have begun an extensive effort so that the assembly election is without splendour," the 72-year-old leader said recently. "But all should know that the people's participation in the elections will take the country forward … an election full of excitement will be a major blow to the enemy." The clampdown has targeted electronic media, seen by the authorities as a major threat, Amnesty said, adding that attacks on dissenting views come against a backdrop of a worsening overall human rights situation in Iran, including public executions used to strike fear into society. Amnesty called on the global community "not to allow tensions over Iran's nuclear programme or events in the wider region to distract it from pressing Iran to live up to its human rights obligations." "For Iranians facing this level of repression, it can be dispiriting that discussions about their country in diplomatic circles can seem to focus mainly on the nuclear programme at the expense of human rights," said Harrison. Iranians vote in parliamentary elections on Friday in the first national poll since the controversial 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A total of 3,444 vetted candidates are vying for the 290 seats in the parliament, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, to be decided by an electorate of 48 million voters.