Iran to calculate oil in euros not USD from next year

This is pretty interesting news, to say the least. BusinessWeek reports that Iran's government spokesperson Gholam Hussein Elham announced that Iran will be calculating oil and other foriegn trade in euros and not USD from the next fiscal year. The country's next financial year will begin on March 21, 2007.

Iran derives more than 80 percent of its hard currency from the export of crude oil that traditionally has been paid for in U.S. dollars. The Iranian government has taken a number of steps to reduce its reliance on the dollar. Iranian Economy Minister Davoud Danesh Jaffari said last month that the government is in the process of converting its dollar reserves into euros.