Over The Cliff: Actually, Iran Is Tanking From Sanctions--Obama Policy!

[mascale]

Iran is learning about money the hard way. The Obama/EU Sanctions are Working!

Iranian: 'Our money is becoming more and more worthless every day' - World News

Money in Fact Matters In Civilized areas of the world.

"Crow, James Crow: Shaken, Not Stirred!"
(Many seek nuclear advantage, even while going way of buffalo chips(?)! Some chips not meant to bring to table!)

 

[jwoodie]

I am more concerned about whether they are developing nuclear weapons than whether they are "tanking." How about you?

 

[Mad Scientist]

"Our money is becoming more and more worthless every day".

Sounds like the U.S.!

 

[mascale]

Iran would likely not use a nuclear weapon to block the oil shipping straits. Even other concerned navies have eradication capability.

Iran would likely not use a nuclear weapon to blow up Israel. There are Moslems there, and Palestinians. Even other concerned navies have eradication capability.

Iran might do a nuclear demonstration. The recent rockets did not explode on take-off, for example. To do so, then it would likely have to alert all kinds of nations, and regulatory international agencies. The test itself could easily be misconstrued. The whole planet would instantly be engaged. Sunni Moslems would be instantly engaged.

So among the least of the planet's concerns is a nuclear capability in Iran. Nations are gobbling up what fuel the planet has left--insofar as concerns the oil. The nations gutted of their reserves need some recourse for their future.

"Crow, James Crow: Shaken, Not Stirred!"
(There is never a Sadaam Hussein around when you need one, anymore. . . .just somehow(?)!"

 

[waltky]

And cut off China? - I seriously doubt it...

Iran Threatens to Halt Crude Exports If Sanctions Intensify
Oct 23, 2012 - Iran will suspend all oil exports, pushing global crude prices higher, if the U.S. and Europe tighten sanctions further on the OPEC member’s economy, Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi warned.

“If you continue to add to the sanctions, we will stop our oil exports to the world,” he said at a news conference in Dubai. “The lack of Iranian oil in the market would drastically add to the price.”

Iran wants “reasonable” prices for crude and doesn’t seek an increase, he said earlier today. Brent crude for December settlement was $1.09 lower at $108.35 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 2:36 p.m. local time. Prices for the grade have risen 11 percent since the European Union banned purchases of Iranian crude on July 1.

Iran’s oil exports have dwindled in the face of U.S. and EU sanctions on its energy and financial industries. The International Energy Agency, which advises the world’s biggest industrialized economies, reported that Iranian shipments slumped to 860,000 barrels a day in September from 1.1 million barrels in August. About 40 percent of Iran’s exports last month were destined for China, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

A unilateral halt in Iran’s oil sales would be “extremely unlikely,” said Robin Mills, head of consulting at Dubai-based Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management.

Commercial ‘Suicide’

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - sanction dey's butt till dey cry 'Uncle'...

Senate approves new sanctions for Iran energy, shipping
30 Nov.`12 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Friday resoundingly approved new sanctions on trade with Iran's energy, port, shipping and ship-building sectors, its latest effort to ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

The new package builds on existing U.S. sanctions but keeps exemptions for countries that have made significant cuts to their purchases of Iranian crude oil. Senators voted 94-0 to make the new sanctions part of an annual defense policy bill. Iran's currency has plunged this year as its oil exports were slashed by U.S. and European sanctions aimed at pressuring the country's leadership to stop pursuing nuclear weapons.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The United Nations' nuclear chief said on Thursday his agency has made no progress in its year-long push to investigate whether Iran has worked on developing an atomic bomb. "We must be clear to the Iranians that toughing it out and waiting it out is not an option, that it will only get worse," Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said.

Menendez, of New Jersey, co-authored the package with Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois and Senator Joseph Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut. The Obama administration has not publicly commented on the proposals, but has privately raised concerns that it does not provide enough "waiver flexibility," said Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Levin said those concerns may be addressed when the Senate and House of Representatives work out differences to finalize the massive defense bill. The House has approved its version of the bill, and both bodies will need to approve a final version before it is sent to President Barack Obama to sign into law. The new sanctions also include measures aimed at stopping the flow of gold from Turkey to Iran.

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[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - tell `em if dey don't straighten up an' fly right we gonna sanction `em some more...

Sanctions hurting Iran's access to capital: U.S. report
7 Jan.`13 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Western sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program contributed to a steep drop in Tehran's access to global sources of capital last year, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a report to Congress.

Foreign banks cut their lending exposure to Iran by the equivalent of $9.1 billion in 2012, down 53 percent, said the report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Thursday. Iran's isolation from foreign lending "means that much needed investment to support its continued economic development is scarce," said the report, which Congress required in the U.S. sanctions law. Broader international sanctions against Iran and other perceived weaknesses in the investment climate in Iran also contributed to the drop, the report said. It cited lending data from the Bank of International Settlements, which promotes collaboration among central banks.

The United States and the EU have imposed sanctions on Iran that aim to choke funding to Tehran's nuclear program. The West says the program is developing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. Iran's gross domestic product is falling "possibly by the largest margin in 25 years," the report added. It did not elaborate. But the Washington based Institute for International Finance said late last year Iran's 2012 GDP was expected to shrink by 3.5 percent, from 1.2 percent positive growth in 2011, as sanctions helped slash the country's oil exports by 1 million barrels per day.

In Washington's latest effort to tighten sanctions, the Treasury said on Wednesday Iran's oil earnings would now be shackled in special accounts in countries that buy oil from the Islamic Republic. Tehran can only use the funds to buy goods from its oil customers, preventing the money from being repatriated and used on the nuclear program. The new measures represent a "significant turning of the screw," a senior U.S. official said.

Still, many experts say sanctions alone are unlikely to stop Iran's nuclear program as the country has a large foreign currency reserve built up from years of high oil prices. Last month Iran announced plans to install and operate advanced uranium enrichment machines. Iranian crude exports in December rose to their highest level since EU sanctions took effect last July, analysts and shipping sources said last month, as strong Chinese demand and an expansion of its tanker fleet helped Tehran dodge the sanctions.

Sanctions hurting Iran's access to capital: U.S. report - Yahoo! News

See also:

Iran: Sanctions make nuclear talks with US futile
Feb 7,`13 -- American proposals for direct talks with Iran are pointless while Washington is "holding a gun" to the country through sanctions, Iran's supreme leader said Thursday, quashing a possible breakthrough in contacts with the West over the nuclear standoff.

The message from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all major decisions in Iran, was reiterated by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a news conference in Cairo later in the day. Their dismissal of one-on-one dialogue raises the stakes when wider negotiations between Iran and world powers, including the United States, resume this month. Another dead-end round - after three stalemated sessions last year - could fuel accusations by Israel and others that Iran is using the talks as a stalling tactic while it gets closer to having the capabilities to build a nuclear weapon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that the world has until this summer - at the latest - to keep Iran from building a bomb. He's hinted that Israel could attack unilaterally if all other efforts fail. Iran denies it seeks atomic arms, saying its nuclear fuel is only for energy-producing reactors and medical applications. Iran officials have frequently called attention to a religious edict by Khamenei that says nuclear arms are contrary to Islamic beliefs. "Talks are held to arrive at an understanding, not to impose anything," Ahmadinejad said. "Such talks will be meaningless if someone raises a club and imposes" something on Iran, he added.

Talks would be productive only if they were based on mutual respect, he said. "Things will be fine if the Americans correct the manner in which they address us." The earlier comments by Khamenei were his first public reaction since a White House offer of direct dialogue received a high-profile boost this week from U.S. Vice President Joe Biden during a security summit in Munich attended by Iran's foreign minister. "Talks will not solve any problems," Khamenei said in comments posted on his website. "You are holding a gun against Iran saying, `Talks or you'll fire.' The Iranian nation will not be frightened by such threats," Khamenei added in a reference to U.S. sanctions over Iran's nuclear efforts.

The U.S. this week further tightened sanctions, which have already slashed Iran's oil revenue by 45 percent. The new measures seek to cut deeper into Iran's ability to get oil revenue. It calls on countries that buy Iranian crude - mostly Asian nations including China and India - not to transfer money directly to Iran and instead place it in local accounts. Thursday's comments followed another jab at the United States: This week Iran's state TV broadcast a video allegedly extracted from an advanced CIA spy drone captured in December 2011 after crossing into Iranian airspace from Afghanistan. Iran has long claimed it managed to reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel, and that it's now capable of launching its own production line for the unmanned aircraft.

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[waltky]

Granny says, "Well den - guess it depends on who ya ask...

U.S. commander says Iran sanctions not working
March 5th, 2013 - Severe sanctions against Iran are not working, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East says.

Gen. James Mattis of Central Command made the statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday. "In your professional opinion, are the current diplomatic and economic efforts to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability - are they working?" Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, asked. "No, sir," Mattis replied. Mattis later told Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, that Iran's "nuclear industry continues." "I think we have to continue sanctions, but have other options ready," Mattis replied.

Mattis said Iran might be able to be swayed by "a purely cost-benefit ratio." "Between economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and encouragement of behavior that does not cost them such a degree of political support that they end up losing power, there may yet be a way to bring them to their senses," Mattis said. Asked by Graham if the only other option is bringing them "to their knees," Mattis responded, "yes, sir." "The means, there are a number of means to do that, perhaps even short of open conflict. But certainly that's one of the options that I have to have prepared for the president," the Central Command chief said.

Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN's Jill Dougherty in an interview conducted in Doha, Qatar, that the United States was willing to sit down with Iran, but the country needs to prove it has only peaceful purposes for its nuclear program. Over the weekend, Iran's ambassador to the United States told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that Iran was open to direct talks. "I'm willing to do what the president instructs me to do, and the president calls that shot. But he has already made it crystal clear, going back several years, that the president is prepared to engage with Iran," Kerry said in his first interview with CNN since becoming secretary of state. "He prefers a diplomatic solution to any kind of military option. And he has said that he is prepared to engage in bilateral conversation. So that option is open."

Iran's ambitions were also the focus of a meeting between Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Pentagon on Tuesday. Hagel said the United States believes the "window is closing" on diplomacy, according to a summary of the meeting provided by the Pentagon.

Source

 

[Avorysuds]

Good to hear Obama does not commit the US to like it's 7th war.... yes.... very good of Obama to do that for us...