While the US is still on the hook to start easing sanctions against Iran in the coming days as part of the P5+1 nuclear deal, they are moving with considerable more alacrity in their efforts to impose new sanctions against Iran over their development on ballistic missiles.
Reports are that 12 companies and individuals are set to be sanctioned by the Treasury Department in the next round of sanctions, which US officials say are independent of the nuclear sanctions. Despite this, the whole pretense of sanctions being about a violation of UN Security Council resolutions centers on the missiles being capable of holding nuclear warheads.
The Iranian government insists the missiles in question aren’t capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which they don’t have at any rate because as the IAEA continues to affirm, they are complying with the P5+1 nuclear deal. They are therefore viewing the sanctions as a US violation of the deal.
Russia and China appear to concur, and are said to have opposed any sanctions on Iran related to the development of conventional missiles. With the rest of the world scrambling to reopen business with Iran after the nuclear deal, the US may be falling further out of step with the rest of the world with such unilateral moves.
is anyone surprised? of course the us congress is going to impose
more and more new non-nuclear sanctions to replace the soon-to-be-
removed nuclear sanctions. that's a given.
it's election year, and one must show fealty to the one not-to-be-named
country in the middle east which DOES have an illicit nuclear program
hidden behind a civilian infrastructure, else those compaign
contributions……..
Surprising, I know, but the article said nothing about the US Congress. This is coming from Obama's Treasury Dept. You would think that Obama, who signed the deal with Iran and others to lift sanctions and supposedly wanted the deal to succeed, could be able to keep his own Cabinet in line with his objectives. Unless he doesn't really control Treasury.
Are you suggesting that Obama doesn’t control the Treasury’s head of sanctions zionist Stuart Levy, the Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence who replaced the zionist David Cohen who Obama rewarded for his aggressive sanction policies by making him the second most powerful position in the CIA?
This is how the neocons/zionists have asserted their control of the U.S. government, by placing individuals in key positions of power. Why else would Obama appoint an Israeli to the second most powerful position in the Fed? How else does a neocon/zionist who was instrumental in the Kiev coup stay as head of the “nonprofit” “bipartisan” propaganda tool, National Endowment for Democracy, for 31 years?
Correction. It was David Cohen who replaced Stuart Levey. It was Cohen who was promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the CIA; the Mossad must have been breaking out the bubbly on that appointment. And, not surprisingly, Adam Szubin, another Jew, replaced David Cohen. Is there an underlying qualification that is necessary for this position?
Obama has to be at least credited with signing on to Putin's initiative to prevent US led war on Syria. No doubt he hoodwinked the hawks on that one because it's pretty obvious Assad had no real use for his chem/bio weapons. In a lot of ways, that cut the legs out from under the US for doing Iran too. There's no way the next president is going to allow that kind of success.
The Neocon/AIPAC Zionists will never back off. It is not in their nature and it does not serve their agenda. And with weakling sell-outs — ie establishment wanna-bees — like Obama, or deep state Neocon tools like Hillary, or any of the bought-and-paid-for Israeli-occupied Congress, the Jewnited States of Israel will continue the "special relationship": US blood to the last drop and US treasure to the last dollar for shjtty little Israel.
Why is it that lately, when I hear of the US/Israel "special relationship", I can't help thinking of Bill Cosby?
OT:
"…thinking of Bill Cosby?"
You know, just like OJ, he's gonna walk. Right??
Care for a friendly little bet.
I think Cosby's betrayal of all who admired him — I'm one of 'em — is so bitter and his crimes so weirdly creepy, that he will go to jail. Like I said to my wife, "The man needs to go to jail."
I have a home in Baja. It gets hot here in summer. It appears you are situated in Vermont. Nice and cool in summer. If Cosby goes to jail, I and wife get to stay at your place for two weeks in Summer. If Cosby walks, you and "friend" get to stay at my place for two weeks during the prime winter season(sport fishing: marlin, sailfish, dorado, tuna; scuba diving; kite boarding).
What say, is it a bet?
Not arguing that he deserves to go to jail. I'm just an observer and what I've seen over the years is that there are 2 sets of rules. The "stars" and "elites" have one set and the rest of us less fortunate have another. IF this should ever go to trial and should he be convicted, the judge will look at his age and his life as an entertainer and he'll feel sorry for him. IMO, he'll never do time.
As for your "friendly" bet, sounds tempting, especially the fishing – I lived in Tampa for a number of years and do miss the fishing. But, since I'm not a betting man, especially when logic should prevail but usually doesn't, I'll pass. Besides, I don't know you at all and as we all should know by now, what you see on the intertoobs should always be taken with caution.
Now, assuming you were serious, you really didn't think I'd take that offer, did you?
But have a happy new year anyway.
"…you really didn't think I'd take that offer, did you?"
Well, your avatar is Bullwinkle, you get 111 reputation points from the Counterpunch readership, I'm not an axe murderer (though perhaps a bit of a jerk), you're not a chainsaw killer, my wife Gail is a great cook(and has relatives in New Hampshire that we could flee to if you turned out to be a jerk) , Vermont is beautiful in summer (or winter), and I fully expected to win the bet. It might have made for an interesting summer side trip, so what the hey, I added it all up and took a shot. But, as you say, you don't know me at all, and then too, when all is said and done you make no secret about being a curmudgeon.
Happy new year to you as well, my friend.
Tell you what…next time you're up this way visiting NH, let me know (curmudgeonvt -dot- yahoo -dot- com) and we'll figure out if we can meet. There's a great little brewery in Littleton called Schillings – great Euro-style brews.
You're on. jrd31415 hat yahoo daht calm.
Hey, we have to come up with something – otherwise (Heaven forbid), we have to give them their money that we seized, back. And when money talks, Congress listens.
Iran(and Russia)are discovering as have the native Americans, that the Anglo-American Empire consists of nothing but thieves, liars and murderers whose "word" isn't worth the paper it's printed on.
It's likely too late for the US to flex more muscle over Iran. Russia and China had stood up and are going to show they have an interest in the ME too.
From a Canadian POV, we can credit Obama for dragging his feet and delaying the completion of the PNAC agenda until it's too late. Obama signed on to Putin's initiative to prevent a US led war on Syria and his admin can be credited with the success of the Iran nuclear agreement.
No wonder American hawks hate him! And now wonder the antiwar Americans lose their credibility by not recognizing Obama for his accomplishments in preventing those two wars! The tone is now set for a more controlled ME, if not more peacefully in the immediate future.
This was always going to happen. Just as the destruction of Syria and removal of Assad remains the primary goal of the US/Neocon Syria regime change operation, the destruction of Iran remains the "jewel in the crown" of the Oded Yinon plan for the destruction of all of Israel's "challengers" in the Mideast.
If the sanctions relief associated with the Iran deal — in particular the return of the $150 billion seized by the US — is held back, I would advise the Iranians to wait quietly until the S-300's are operational and then withdraw from the NPT, kick out the inspectors, shut off the cameras, install the most advanced centrifuges in Fordo, and embark on a crash course to acquire as much weapons grade uranium as possible as quickly as possible.
Absolutely nothing short of the credible threat of nuclear annihilation will deter the Israelis from their determination to destroy Iran. And even then it's not certain, because the Israelis know that their unlimited aggression fueled by unlimited ambition must inevitably lead to their destruction by someone — anyone — who the Israelis don't destroy first. This is the "disease" of psychopathic overreach that has been the Jews' fatal flaw for five-thousand years.
My sentiments exactly but I always get censored out of the conversation because I include the US. It's no secret why antiwar.com continues to fail it's mission. It's always been much more concerned with playing US domestic politics than listening to the rest of the world.
I guess Russia could move a few hundred mobile launched nuclear missiles with Brussels / UK / Saudi range and some s-400s under Russian control to Iran just like the US does in Europe and put an end to the game.