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Page added on January 16, 2016
Iran Sanctions Are Lifted
Just hours after Tehran and Washington swapped long-held prisoners, the United States and European nations lifted oil and financial sanctions on Iran and released roughly $100 billion of its assets, after international inspectors concluded the country had followed through on its promises to dismantle large sections of its nuclear program.
At the end of a day of high drama that played out in a diplomatic dance across Europe and the Middle East, five Americans, including a Washington Post reporter, Jason Rezaian, were being flown out of the country on a Swiss aircraft right after the nuclear accord was implemented. The detention of one of the released Americans, Matthew Trevithick, who had been engaged in language studies in Tehran when he was arrested, according to his family, had never been publicly announced.
“Iran has undertaken significant steps that many people — and I do mean many — doubted would ever come to pass,” Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday evening at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which earlier issued a report detailing how Iran had shipped 98 percent of its fuel to Russia, dismantled more than 12,000 centrifuges so they could not enrich uranium, and poured cement into the core of a reactor designed to produce plutonium.
But Mr. Kerry was clearly energized by the release of the Americans, an issue he took up on the edges of almost every nuclear negotiation, and pursued in a separate, secret set of talks that many involved in the nuclear issue were only vaguely aware were happening.
The release of the “unjustly detained” Americans, as Mr. Kerry put it, came at some cost: Seven Iranians, either convicted or charged with breaking American embargoes, were released in the prisoner swap, and 14 others were removed from international wanted lists. Many of the presidential candidates, including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Donald J. Trump, denounced the swap as a sign of weakness, and they have long promised to review or withdraw from the nuclear agreement.
They particularly object to the release of about $100 billion in frozen assets — mostly from past oil sales — that Iran will now control, and the end of American and European restrictions on trade that had been imposed as part of the American-led effort to stop the program. It was not only sanctions that forced Iran to the table: the United States and Israel also developed one of the world’s most sophisticated cyberweapons to destroy the centrifuges that Iran has now been dismantling.
With the start of the so-called implementation day, the day that the accord goes fully into operation, the structures are finally in place for Tehran to re-engage with the world after decades of isolation.
But even in a week that started with the release of 10 sailors who drifted into Iranian waters — the Defense Department still has not provided an explanation of how that happened — and ended with a prisoner swap that seemed drawn from the pages of the Cold War, it was far from clear whether Tehran would choose to re-engage — at least very quickly.
In Tehran and Washington, political battles are still being fought over the merits and dangers of moving toward normal interchanges between two countries that have been avowed adversaries for more than three decades. But Mr. Kerry suggested that the nuclear deal had broken the cycle of hostility, enabling the secret negotiations that led up to the hostage swap. It was far from a sure thing: Just weeks ago, Iran was demanding the release of nearly 20 Iranians convicted or indicted in the United States; an administration official said that number had been whittled down to seven, but even that still rankled some.
“Critics will continue to attack the deal for giving away too much to Tehran,” said R. Nicholas Burns, who started the sanctions against Iran that were lifted Saturday as the No. 3 official in the State Department during the George W. Bush administration. “But the fact that Iran’s nuclear ambitions will be effectively frozen for the next 10 to 15 years is a real advantage for us,” he said, adding that “it was achieved by tough-minded diplomacy and not war.”
Still Mr. Burns, who now teaches diplomacy at Harvard and has advised Hillary Clinton, a Democratic candidate for president, argued that recent encounters with Iran — including its ballistic missile tests and its propping up of President Bashar al Assad of Syria, “demonstrate how complicated our relationship with Iran will continue to be.” He urged President Obama to issue new sanctions against Iran this weekend for the ballistic missile tests — a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions — to demonstrate that he will keep up the pressure.
Document: I.A.E.A. Report on Iran’s Nuclear Program
A copy of the proposed sanction leaked three weeks ago, and the Obama administration pulled it back — perhaps to avoid torpedoing the prisoner swap and the completion of the nuclear deal. Negotiations to win the release of Mr. Rezaian, who had covered the nuclear talks before he was imprisoned on vague charges, were an open secret: Mr. Kerry often alluded to the fact that he was working on the issue behind the scenes.
Mr. Rezaian was held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison for practically all of his incarceration, and spent the first several months in solitary confinement. He suffered vision problems and relatives said he lost about 40 pounds. It wasn’t until about a year ago that the Iranian authorities publicly explained the nature of the charges against him.
His mother, Mary Rezaian, who lives in Turkey and went to Tehran last June to be closer to her son, said then that he had only just become aware of the global support for him, including an appeal for his release from Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight boxing champion. Mr. Rezaian’s mother said she was permitted to visit him only occasionally and said it had become “ever harder” for him to cope.
Then, several weeks ago the Iranians leaked news that they were interested in a swap of their own citizens, which American officials said was an outrageous demand, because they had been indicted or convicted in a truly independent court system.
Graphic: The Iran Nuclear Deal – A Simple Guide
But behind the scenes, one senior American official said, “it was clear this would be the only way.” There was discussion inside the administration of similar swaps during the Cold War, a practice moviegoers have been reminded of recently in “Bridge of Spies,” about the negotiations to win the release of Francis Gary Powers.
Mr. Kerry insisted that the two sets of negotiations were completely separate, but he acknowledged they were related: The intense diplomatic contact with Iran — Mr. Kerry has spent more time with his American-educated Iranian counterpart, Mohammed Javad Zarif, than any other foreign minister — made the prisoner talks possible.
The result was two parallel races underway — one involving implementing the nuclear deal, the other to get the prisoner swap done while the moment was ripe. The Iranians beat, by months, the C.I.A. and Energy Department estimates of how long it would take them to dismantle the far-flung elements of its nuclear empire, a long checklist that occupies scores of pages in the nuclear accord.
“They were highly motivated to get it done,” said one American official who was closely involved, because President Hassan Rouhani wanted money flowing into Iran, and more oil flowing out, before a critical election late next month.
The Iran Deal in 200 Words
But there were last minute hitches. For example, the United States and Iran were struggling late Saturday to define the details of what kind of “advanced centrifuges” Iran will be able to develop nearly a decade from now — the kind of definitional difference that can undermine an accord.
The result was that Mr. Kerry and Mr. Zarif veered from the monumental significance of what they were accomplishing — an end to a decade of open hostility — to the minutiae of uranium enrichment.
But Mr. Kerry emerged to tell reporters he had reached the goals he has talked about for two years.
“Each of the pathways that Iran had to a nuclear weapon have been verifiably closed down,” he declared. Noting that Tehran has frozen much of its activity during the negotiations, he responded to critics of the deal — including, without naming them, the Republican presidential candidates — who say that Iran will immediately cheat.
“We have now two years of compliance under our belt,” he said. “Obviously, past performance does not guarantee future results.” But, he argued, “we know without doubt that there is not a challenge in the entire region that wouldn’t become much more complicated if Iran had the ability” to produce nuclear weapons.”
But Iran has something it desperately needs: Billions in cash, at a time oil shipments have been cut by more than half because of the sanctions, and below $30-a-barrel prices mean huge cuts in national revenue.
Just how much cash is a matter of dispute. A senior American official said Saturday that Iran will be able to access about $50 billion of a reported $100 billion in holdings abroad, although others have used higher estimates. The official said Iran will likely need to keep much of those assets abroad to facilitate international trade.
The Obama administration on Saturday also removed 400 Iranians and others from its sanctions list and took a series of other steps to lift selected restrictions on interactions with Iran. Another 200 people, however, will remain on the sanctions list under for other reasons, including terrorist activities, human rights abuses, involvement in civil wars in Syria or Yemen or ties to the country’s ballistic missile program.
Under the new rules put in place, the United States will no longer sanction foreign individuals or firms for buying oil and gas from Iran. The American trade embargo remains in place, but the government will permit certain limited business activities with Iran, such as selling or purchasing Iranian food and carpets and American commercial aircraft and parts.
It is an opening to Iran that represents a huge roll of the dice, one that will be debated long after Mr. Obama he has built his presidential library. It is unclear what will happen after the passing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has protected and often fueled the hardliners — but permitted these talks to go ahead.
The president and Mr. Kerry, with a year and four days left in office, are hoping to foster new discussions that will bear fruit in other areas, including ending the war in Syria and moving, slowly, to the eventual restoration of diplomatic relations.
89 Comments on "Iran Sanctions Are Lifted"
GregT on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 7:37 pm
Who could have possibly ever seen this coming?
From Axis of Evil, to best friends forever, and all it took was a few blankets and some food.
Anonymous on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 7:41 pm
What an utter load of sheee-ite. Aka, a NY Times farticle….
I hope Iran gets its assets back, illegally frozen by the zionist ameri-con empire, and gets them transferred to a BRICs based bank asap. Then, I suggest Iran flip the americans the bird.
I like this bit:The official said Iran will likely need to keep much of those assets abroad to facilitate international trade.
Translation: Well try to force Iran to keep as much of it under US lock and key as possible so we can freeze them again any time we see fit.
Boat on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 7:59 pm
GregT on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 7:37 pm
Who could have possibly ever seen this coming?
From Axis of Evil, to best friends forever, and all it took was a few blankets and some food.
More false information from Mr “All I want is the truth”
I think the sanctions that cut their oil production in half is what spurred the deal with the American devil. lol
But hey according to the doomers they now have less further to fall for the immediate crash. The cult has spoken.
makati1 on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 8:04 pm
As soon as the illegal sanctions are gone, Iran will sell it’s oil for anything but USDs. There is no security in being a friend of the Empire of Chaos.
Boat on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 8:18 pm
mak,
By all means invest your dollars in Russia and China. The leaders of stability. lol PS, looked at their economies lately?
regardingpo on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 8:32 pm
Guys, I’m new here but I think I’m getting the hang of things. “Boat” is the resident idiot/troll, am I right?
Boat on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 8:42 pm
reguardingpro,
Yes, am not a doomer and see no total crash over the next 10 years. We have yet to see peak oil, conventional or otherwise. I am pro American not anti American. So yes I am the troll/idiot with pride. lol
Boat on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 8:45 pm
apeman,
Even if Houston is destroyed I have no problem with Iran adding oil to the market. It’s just capitalism dude. You always have to adjust to survive. No whining, no blaming, no asking the government for help. Be a man and take care of yourself is the American way.
Boat on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 8:45 pm
apeman,
Even if Houston is destroyed I have no problem with Iran adding oil to the market. It’s just capitalism dude. You always have to adjust to survive. No whining, no blaming, no asking the government for help. Be a man and take care of yourself is the American way.
antaris on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 8:55 pm
Hey Mak. Just a thought. If Iran wanted to sell oil in another currency than US, couldn’t they have done that the whole time?
Apneaman on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 8:58 pm
“Be a man and take care of yourself is the American way.”
Like with those too big to fail banks? What about all the industry subsidies? The 1% are excellent adjusters eh? They adjusted your tax dollars into their pockets. That’s the American way Boat.
Boat on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 9:02 pm
antaris,
Rockman has explained this many times. Canada needs our light oil/condensate to move their heavy oil to the US refineries. The closer the distance the cheaper the cost of shipping and handling. The US is close to Canada.
Boat on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 9:06 pm
Well apeman did you know the banks have paid back their bailouts at a high interest rate. The common man should have it so good. Do you even know what goes on in the US or just post away like mak.
antaris on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 9:08 pm
I’m not talking about Canada. Iran could sell to China or Russia. Neither care worry about the U.S. Dollar.
Boat on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 9:26 pm
The 2008 takeover of fannie mae and freddie mac by the government has made close to 200 billion since the crash. Would you like me to continue?
GregT on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 9:41 pm
“Guys, I’m new here but I think I’m getting the hang of things. “Boat” is the resident idiot/troll, am I right?”
Yes regardingpo, you would be correct. Whether he is an idiot or a troll is probably still up for debate, but IMHO, the guy is a complete fricken brainless moron.
HereWeGo on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 10:30 pm
prediction: Sunday evening when oil opens for trade, it tanks due to speculative fear of Iran over supplying the market even more. $20 oil here we come.
GregT on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 10:39 pm
“The 2008 takeover of fannie mae and freddie mac by the government has made close to 200 billion since the crash. Would you like me to continue?”
The official end of free market capitalism Boat. You now live in a socialist system.
makati1 on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 10:53 pm
antaris, they have been, but now it will be made public when they don’t have to hide it anymore. I see the big middle finger to the Empire, from Iran, in the near future.
makati1 on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 11:00 pm
Boat, I ‘invest’ my income in preps, future neighbors and necessities, not Casino paper. That many of those preps come from China is of no consequence. So, yes, by buying Asian made stuff, I guess you could call that “support”.
Most of what you purchase comes from there also. Or Bangladesh. Or India, Thailand, Vietnam, S.Korea, Pakistan, etc. Read the labels. Odds are, your PC is also Chinese made or at least many of the parts were made in Asia. The US doesn’t make them. I’m sure they thank you for your support also.
makati1 on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 11:06 pm
reguarding po, if you read the above half dozen examples from Boat, you don’t have to ask. He and the Ozark Redneck wannabee are both in denial, but the Redneck likes to write long winded rants that try to support his 1%er family’s position in life and his likely trust fund/inheritance. After a while, you will tire of it and just ignore them like most on here.
ennui2 on Sat, 16th Jan 2016 11:34 pm
mataki is more of a troll than Boat.
Mataki can’t write anything other than invectives. Always a no-content rant no matter what the subjectmatter. This article would seem to cast doubt on his narrative of the US as the root of all evil, but no. Just say “this is bullshit!” and keep shouting and whining.
GregT on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 12:56 am
If you were able to remove your head from your American exceptionalist asshole ennui2, you might actually be able to see the light. Clearly, this is not the case. Like many others here, you are so wrapped up in your indoctrination that in all likelihood you will never be able to see clearly. Never question anything, and shout down anybody who does. If I wanted to build my own personal empire, I would be sending you a PM. In the corporate world we affectionately referred to people such as yourself as useful idiots. Keep up the great work, comrade.
makati1 on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:04 am
GregT, We have some real hard line imperial indoctrination examples on this forum. I have come to the conclusion that they are a lost cause. It began at birth, just like religion, and only the strongest can overcome it without that proverbial 2X4 in the face.
Even when that happens, most Americans will not understand why it happened and will blame it on someone else. “Those damn (fill in the blank) caused it! Lets bomb them into the stone age!”
The Imperial US is rotting from the inside, just like all previous empires. The sooner it implodes, the better for the rest of the world, I think. How about this Monday? My calendar’s free. LOL
onlooker on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:13 am
Haha I guess that makes me an oddity Greg and Mak. Seriously, I have lived all my life in US, my parents originated from Colombia. I too was blind in my youth and had the notion that the US though not perfect was a country that stood for positive things. On the other hand I have always felt that their were and are evil people at the top who are super greedy and power hungry. This idea is I think what helped me to reject the brainwashing. Another reason is because I have always been a bit of a loner and not wont to just follow the crowd. I think Juan also has this trait. So these reasons are why I think I have been able to escape the ignorant and intolerant mindset that is common in the US. Oh and being curious also as it has allowed me to hone my critical thinking faculties. The internet has helped immensely to confirm alot of things.
Davy on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:27 am
“I’m not talking about Canada. Iran could sell to China or Russia. Neither care worry about the U.S. Dollar.” That is some typical delusional “dollar dead” crap. The Brics tried that route and look where China is now. For all practical purposes the Brics equals China economically. China is struggling to get enough dollars. China is in a market and currency unwind. The Chinese have lost confidence in their equity markets and increasingly their currency.
This is not a good thAng for the US either. The US is getting deflation exported right to our main streets by seeing our manufacturing base further stressed by a destabilized currency regimes with the dollar right smack in the middle. We deserve this because of our Federal Reserve and the part they have played in this huge boondoggle of easing and rate repression.
I wonder how keen Putin is these days to jump into bed with a sick dragon we call China. I haven’t seen many economic junkets to China lately with the handshakes and kisses. Iran is going to be in the same boat as the rest of the world with currencies, investments, and oil. This economic downturn is going to slam everyone. Some more than others and some sooner than later. The net effect is a global world increasingly seeing a smaller pie.
Davy on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:30 am
“Mataki can’t write anything other than invectives. Always a no-content rant no matter what the subject matter. This article would seem to cast doubt on his narrative of the US as the root of all evil, but no. Just say “this is bullshit!” and keep shouting and whining.” So true Enuu!
makati1 on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:51 am
Onlooker, I can also say that there are some exceptions, like yourself and a few others, to the rule here and those are the comments I like to read and share my thoughts on.
They are MY thoughts, not something I am told to think. If they are a bit ‘out in left field’, well, maybe they will inspire someone else to think outside the box. After all, a long life gives perspective to most every event/condition. You realize what is important and what is not. I was born before World War Two ended so I have seen it all. Every president since Ike. Every recession. Every war. From vacuum tubes to transistors to chips. Sputnik, to the moon, to the space station. And on and on. Quite a journey that might just take me to a new place called “collapse” before my time is up. We shall see.
Out of my whole family in the US, there are exactly two people, out of maybe 100+, that see the real US and can talk about it, at least a little bit. The others are either blissfully unaware or in direct denial that anything bad is going to happen to America and themselves.
BTW: My family came to North America in 1734, from Germany, by way of Austria. Not a newly minted “American” like yourself. Too bad that the Empire commandeered the title ‘America’ and took it into the gutter. The Americas actually take in most of the Western hemisphere, where hundreds of millions of really good people, like yourself, reside. Good luck!
Davy on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:52 am
Folks, Mak attacked so let me fill you in on Mak’s situation:
Mak, you are an (EX) American full of hate and resentment from a failed life in the US. You live with a Filipino boyfriend in Manila, a megalopolis of 24MIL people in some cheap high rise. Here you boast about how safe you will be if a collapse comes. You talk about a faux farm that you are making your doomstead but for some reason you are never there. It is only 100 miles away but you think 24MIL people will never find it. You are always whining about the problem’s your boyfriend is having with paperwork on ownership which sounds fishy. You are living on a social security check which I assume you give to the boyfriend so he will keep you. You are an illegal alien in a land that can deport you at any time. Your boyfriend can kick you out at any time for being a bitch.
Mak spends his days drinking beer and eating pretzels bitching about how awful the US is and how wonderful Asia is. It is hard to preach that agenda these days with the realities of Asia economically and environmentally. Asia is killing the world on both counts. Putin’s grand pivot to China came at a bad time and now he is bogged down in Syria killing civilians. I don’t hear the Putin worship much anymore.
Mak, your message and your “chums” message is a failure. Your anti-American agendas are falling flat on their faces. You guys are getting more desperate all the time hence the foul mouths, label, and personal attacks. You guys are pathetic examples of misplaced insecurities focused on those you hate de jure. You guys need a mirror and deep personal inspection yet that sounds scary. Maybe delusions are better in your case.
onlooker on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 4:19 am
thanks Mak
Davy on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 7:19 am
“Mideast Stocks Plummet as Iran Plans to Boost Crude Exports”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-17/iran-stocks-head-for-highest-since-august-after-sanctions-relief
“Stocks across the Middle East tumbled as the easing of sanctions against Iran raised the prospect of a surge in oil supplies to a market already reeling from the lowest prices in more than a decade. Shares in Tehran gained.”
“Iran is targeting an immediate increase in shipments of 500,000 barrels a day, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy oil minister for commerce and international affairs, said on Sunday. It plans to add another half million barrels within months.”
Anonymous on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 7:31 am
Good to see Iran, Russia and others using the price of oil as a weapon against there tormentors and attackers for a change. It would be ironic if the thing that cripples the american empire is not a physical shortage of expensive oil, but rather a glut of inexpensive oil that no one has any money to buy(because they are sinking in debt). Now all we need, is to continue the slow move away from the uS dolla. Slow so as not to draw the attention of the WoMD happy american elite.
Now that would be something to see. The tar-sanders and frakers are already whimpering and groaning now. I guess well see…
Davy on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 7:44 am
Anony, what part of Canada are you from?
“CANADIAN DOLLAR”
http://business.financialpost.com/tag/canadian-dollar
“Canadian dollar falls below 69 cents: Loonie’s longest losing streak since 1971 portends more losses”
“Jack M. Mintz: Living with the low Canadian brain-drain dollar”
“Loonie closes below 70 cents U.S. for first time in nearly 13 years as stocks tumble”
“Jack Mintz: Living with a low dollar (Part 1) The end of the commodity super-cycle means higher costs, lower living standards. What is to be done?”
“Here’s how much more Canadians will have to pay for fruits and veg because of our low dollar: For every cent the Canadian dollar drops, imported foods like Florida oranges and California lettuce will cost 1% more, a blow especially for lower income families”
“Canadian stocks enter bear market as energy selloff accelerates: The global rout hit home today with the TSX sinking 20% below its peak to meet the definition of a bear market”
joe on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 8:56 am
Iran has built a very open and inclusive economy in the sanctions regime. Women have more freedom than sunni women and they contribute more to the economy. Will Iran continue along this path, grow and permit immigrants to come into their new economy? Or will easy oil money shut development down and the nation implode with greed and arms deals just like the sunnis?
Only the future will tell.
makati1 on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 9:44 am
“The last time a country decided to dump the dollar in the oil business, the US destroyed it. Now India, the world’s third largest economy, and Iran have agreed to settle their outstanding oil dues in rupees. What’s more, the two countries may conduct all future trade in their national currencies. …
Indian negotiators have actively pushed dollar-free trade at the annual meetings of the BRICS group. This group of five major economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is actively engaged in speeding up the process of increasing mutual trade in national currencies.
The $100 billion BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) and a reserve currency pool worth over another $100 billion are both aimed at weakening the western chokehold on global financial flows. …
The renminbi has now become the dominant reference currency in East Asia, eclipsing the dollar and the euro….
The currencies of South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand now more closely track the RMB than the dollar. The dollar’s dominance as reference currency in East Asia is now limited to Hong Kong (by virtue of the peg), Vietnam and Mongolia. …
The India-Iran rupee trade, Russia-Iran rouble trade and the worldwide acceptance of the renminbi will slowly erode the prestige of the US dollar, which will have dire consequences for American prosperity.
As a country that greatly benefits from – and exploits – the dollar’s reserve currency status, the end of dollar dominance will mean a sharp decline in American incomes and the ability to project power overseas.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/currency-dictatorship-the-struggle-to-end-us-dollar-hegemony/5501829
And the anti-dollar war goes on…
Rodster on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 9:50 am
The US giveth and now taketh away. The US Treasury just imposed new sanctions on Iran.
https://www.rt.com/usa/329240-us-sanctions-iran-ballistic/
Davy on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 10:07 am
Someone is about 6 month behind the news. There is a new reality with currencies now and it is not the tactics of a trade war on the dollar. What is going on now is a mad dash for the door to get enough dollars because of currency destabilization. This is the obvious reality now that is main stream extremist are still loath to admit it.
The bric agenda games are done. The dollar is what it is and will remain what it is for a time until the time the status quo unravels. It appears that time is getting closer. Hang on because everyone will suffer once the global financial system implodes including the US and the dollar.
penury on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 10:13 am
What astonished me is that on a
Sat it took a whole thirty minutes to draft, pass both houses of congress and be signed by the Pres. These people must have rally be dedicated to peace, freedom and the American way.
Nony on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 11:11 am
This is one where I break with the Republicans. Think trade is beneficial, even with rival countries. Glad to see this deal go through. Think it is good both for foreign policy reasons (bringing Iran into the community of nations) and for the economy.
shortonoil on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 12:05 pm
Over in Police State, National Security World where every notion perceived by anything that can fart is recorded, processed, analysed and categorized, to determine if the sheep are starting to run over the cliff yet, is an algo that just melted into a puddle of silicon paste. It just got finished attempting to process this 37 piece rant.
GregT on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 12:41 pm
“Adam J. Szubin, acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a press release.”
“We have consistently made clear that the United States will vigorously press sanctions against Iranian activities outside of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – including those related to Iran’s support for terrorism, regional destabilization, human rights abuses, and ballistic missile program.”
https://www.rt.com/usa/329240-us-sanctions-iran-ballistic/
The kettle calling the pot black.
Boat on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 1:08 pm
Until Iran learns that being an unstable bad actor in word affairs equals trouble, they will continue to shoot themselves in the foot. Russia should learn the same lesson.
Davy on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 1:14 pm
Boat, please do me a favor and show some balance and acknowledge the overwhelming reality of what the US has done to the world and why people hate us. It is only by accepting this reality that we can begin to change some very bad behaviors that the rest of the world has a right to be upset about. You are being an ugly American and it makes it hard for all the rest of the Americans here. You are inviting the kind of hate and resentment that cause battles. Please Boat grow up.
onlooker on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 1:18 pm
Yes Boat that is the point your arguments are straying too far from reality and so we are less and less taking your seriously.
shortonoil on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:07 pm
“Until Iran learns that being an unstable bad actor in word affairs equals trouble,
One would think that after 3,000 years they would have gotten the memo by now? That is almost exactly what the Romans had to say about them. Just trouble!
Boat on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:23 pm
Davy,
Boat, please do me a favor and show some balance and acknowledge the overwhelming reality of what the US has done to the world and why people hate us.
So after the bombing of Pearl harbor what did the result of US intervention do for the world since then. Introduce much of Europe and Asia to capitalism.
What did Russia do? Kill Ukrainians? What did China do? Have a famin and lose over 50 million to starvation?
What has happened to both of those countries as they now embrace capitalism. More stability, food and medicine. How are war mongering countries like Japan and S Korea doing? Peace and much more prosperity.
The US is the leader of the free world and the world is much better off because of it. Not to mention the free world is much larger now. And BTW more dominate. You can kiss the US grits if you can’t be proud of that.
Apneaman on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:38 pm
Boat – remove head from ass
US Has Killed More Than 20 Million People in 37 “Victim Nations” Since World War II
http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-has-killed-more-than-20-million-people-in-37-victim-nations-since-world-war-ii/5492051
Davy on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:40 pm
Boat, get a grip man. This is not about the other black sheep in the world. We know all too well how bad the rest of the world is. This is about you and me and our country that spent half a century as a superpower economically, militarily, and culturally. What we have now is a direct result of our leadership. What we have now is a mess. We don’t need to be worrying about the rest of the world we need to worry about ourselves.
Please don’t use the “US is the leader of the free world.” There is no free world. We have a responsibility to clean up our act and to make the world less bad. With that said this does not mean I condone people who use extremism, coercion, and intimidation to tell me what is right and wrong about me. I don’t need extremist doing the double standards and the winner and loser game. There is a fine line between constructive criticism and character destruction.
Boat you are encouraging people to be anti-American. What people want to see is a country whose people realizes it is on the wrong path and try to at least acknowledge this and show self-reflection. We then need to show leadership in change. What we have now is a runaway train of delusional behavior and corruption. You are playing a part in this by thinking you are “holding the moral high ground” but in reality you are the “Ugly American” persona. Wake up and make things better quit digging the hole deeper.
onlooker on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:47 pm
Yes, this is a list of genocides in the 20th century of which Great Britain and US are most responsible for directly or indirectly because of repatriation/artificial boundaries, installing regimes on board with neoliberal capitalism that had no qualms about snuffing out the resistance or what ordered to do so. Cultivating and fueling the Cold War in order to justify direct military intervention or via proxy friendly governments. South America, Africa and Middle East serving as good examples of where all this occurred. Not to mention that sly deceptions of corporations like the cigarette companies pushing their poison or the fake drug war which is supported by the Powers that be. Please let me stop how about the wide scale assault on Earth that the very nature of capitalism contemplates and induces. I could go on but what is the use with some who could not see it despite the fact that every aspect of life on Earth has been affected by Capitalism and its profit motive and greed that know no bounds or permits any alternatives.
onlooker on Sun, 17th Jan 2016 3:48 pm
Oops here is the list I just promised http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/dictat.html