The EU embargo on Iranian oil, pushed stringently by the United States, was delayed for six months to let economically troubled countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain find alternative supplies. Some 500,000 barrels arrive in Europe every day from Iran. But the U.S. had been successful in pressuring EU countries to inflict more economic pain on themselves by cutting off one of their main oil suppliers.
These measures aren’t only harming the EU economies, they are impoverishing the Iranian people. Jobs are being lost because the oil sector is weakened and rampant inflation caused by sanctions targeted on the central bank have pushed the price of meat and milk up 50 percent.
“People are buying less because the prices have gone up,” Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari said. “That affects the shopkeepers. It’s a vicious cycle.” An Iranian interviewed on the subject said, “People are hungry and this is why crime has gone up.”
The move to cut off exports to the EU before the embargo sets in is an illustration of how poorly the sanctions program on Iran has worked. Instead of pressuring the Iranian government to conform to the wishes of the U.S. and its western allies, it has emboldened the regime.
This is bad news for Spain where I live, but I don´t blame the Iranians one bit – enough is enough!
Spain and the EU need to begin looking for new friends, friends are supposed to have the interests of each other in mind – the US only brings trouble to the relationship.
The EU is killing itself by supporting US economic terrorism via AIPAC, and the criminal politicians in the house and senate. Countries in the EU would be wise to opt out of the EU before it implodes.
THE EU needs to stop appeasing Israel otherwise Israel's demands will continue to grow.
It is a good step to cut the oil for europe now.If the policy of "the free world" inspired by the "only Jewish democracy "is to causes discontent in Iran and so to make the people to struggle for the change of Islamic regime,cutting now the oil could causes discontents in europe and people there will demand from Napoleon 4 th-sarkozy and for others puppets "leaders" to go to hell.They make present history of an absurdity without equivalence in the all past.
Sanctions and embargoes remind me of what happened to the German civilians after WW1 . They were the ones to suffer and die for the evil machinations of politicians, bankers and other corporatist leeches.
Not what the reprobates in EU, US & allies expected – in the game of chess, patience, strategy and foresight are key to overcoming your opponent. Unfortunately the EU, US & allies lack this in 'oil tanker' loads…
European governments again acted against the interest of their own people!!
And acted with those sanction in the interests of a foreign power.
Maybe those corrupt European politicians should leave their countries and look for some other people to govern!
Such decision making shows the value of elections and democracy is equal to zero!
Politicians act intentionally against the interests of their people!
W9
not in the interest of their own people, cut them off now in WINTER
Reminds me of a guy telling his old girlfriend, "I've met someone new – I am leaving you tomorrow morning, after breakfast – maybe you can give me a ride then." And she replies, "I've already packed your bags and called you a cab, Here's your hat and don't let that door hit you in the ass on your way out!"
It's called not really getting what you want, but definitely getting what you asked for.
Not only has the sanctions hurt the Iranians and Europeans but also us Americans. I have noticed our gas prices have gone up 30 cents in two weeks. Doesn't seem like a lot but when added over two weeks, it adds up. Also, this is affecting our cost of food. So, these establishment pukes think they are huring Iran but in essence are hurting their own people, cutting your nose to spite your face. F establishment Republicans and Democrats.
I was thinking the same thing. We in America are willing to pay more for gas in order to satisfy AIPAC and it's whores (our politicians) The oil companies and certain ME sheikdoms and dictatorships also profit.
If we only had politicians in the US and EU who put the interests of their people first this would be a woderfuil world.
Everyone must think Iran is stupid.
I wonder if Iran's actions are rational economic behavior rather than geopolitical strategy or angry vengefulness. The US-EU boycott of Iran includes freezing of assets and accounts. Why would Iran want to ship oil now, knowing that payment for that oil will be frozen or confiscated? Europe would like to receive the oil, then pay for it by deposit to an Iranian account in an EU bank, and then freeze that account so that the funds could not be transferred or spent. It would be economic irrationality to agree to that.
The Iranians are opting out of the petrodollar system. For example, they just worked out an agreement with India to take gold in payment for oil. In fact, this is a long-term Iranian strategy designed to open up petroleum transactions to a basket of currency options. The FedGov fears this, because the dollar's use as the reserve currency for petroleum transactions is about the only thing keeping the dollar floating. For more on the Iranian opt-out of the petrodollar system, see here: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175490/tomgram:…..
It's far more than just Iran. From today's Pepe Escobar item that can be found here, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NA28Ak05…
" All across Eurasia trade is fast moving away from the US dollar. The Asian Dollar Exclusion Zone, crucially, also means that Asia is slowly disengaging itself from Western banks.
"The movement may be led by China – but it's irreversibly transnational. Once again, follow the money. BRICS members China and Brazil started bypassing the US dollar on trade in 2007. BRICS members Russia and China did the same in 2010. Japan and China – the top two Asian giants – did the same only last month….
"Asia wants a new international system – and it's working for it. Inevitable long-term consequences; the US dollar – and, crucially, the petrodollar – slowly drifting into irrelevance."
I wonder if the Iranians ship their oil on Iranian owned tankers. If they do, they might decide to modify slightly their "no more oil for Europe" plan. The Iranians might coordinate the tanker arrivals so they all dock at the various European terminals simultaneously, at which point the Iranians could announce, "This is the last delivery, and the price for this load is $150 a barrel, payable in gold." Or some such. Word would spread very rapidly. The Europeans might very well pay the price for that one load (or not) simply to avoid a supply interruption, and to give them a breathing space in which to figure out what to do going forward. Would that start a rapid rise in oil prices across the board — which would benefit the Iranians and slam the world economy? And would that spook the rest of the world, and get them to wondering if maybe, just maybe, going along with the US, wasn't such a good idea after all?
Short of war, which blows the price of oil through the stratosphere, it's a chess game, and the Iranians are proving to be very good at it.
To clarify, the Majlis is going to discuss the possibility of passing legislation that would pre-empt the EU embargo, and that legislation is backed by the Supreme Leader. Furthermore, Iran wouldn't undertake such a measure without already knowing where the oil formerly exported to the EU will go. To get up to speed on this, I highly suggest reading the last six or so items by Pepe Escobar, which can be found here, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/others/Escobar.html and by reading the related blog entries of Pepe's cowriter at ATOL, MK Bhadrakumar, http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/
Pepe's latest reveals a vital fact: Many EU refineries are "tuned" to process Iranian crude, not Libya's or Kuwait's or Canada's, and finding a close substitute isn't as easy as it sounds, particularly when there isn't any excess oil available for export at any price. But the salient fact Escobar and Bhadrakumar continue to unveil is the real issue driving the whole affair: The ongoing attempt to upend Dollar Hegemony and its PetroDollar component, which has recently escalated to the point where it's being ignored by the US/EU Propaganda System won't make it disappear.
I had to smile reading Tom's comment just previous to mine- indeed, if Chavez decides to join in the dance of death and cuts the US off from Venezuelan oil, what will the US do? There can be no 'humanitarian' reason to attack Venezuela- and no potential 'smoking mushroom cloud'- and it will be plain as day to Joe Sixpack that all this IS about the oil and nothing else.
Just how many non-Americans do we have to kill each year so we can have an inordinate share of the world's oil? How far down the line do we need to get before the Axis of Evil includes predominantly White, Christian nations?