In a substantial break from previous policy statements, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on Tuesday that the US may ease sanctions against Iran in the days to come. US officials, and Pompeo in particular, had been denying that this was the case all month.
Iran brought this up as a major need for fighting coronavirus, saying sanction easing is one real way to help them. The US went so far in rejecting this as to even declare at one point that coronavirus wouldn’t help Iran “escape” from sanctions.
Trump had issued one statement suggesting the US was willing to help Iran, but at the time it appeared to be in any way other than sanctions relief. Interestingly, over the past week it was reported the US had issued waivers allowing Iran to buy medicine and equipment, though they denied it at the time.
It seems almost certain that was true now, with the waivers going to other countries that had Iranian assets frozen, allowing Iran to buy things for the virus. The US had previously denied that the sanctions were limiting Iran’s access to aid, though that clearly was an issue that they are now making halting steps to resolve.
A big obstacle to this is that US officials don’t want to admit how much the sanctions are harming the humanitarian situation in Iran, and will want to ease things as subtley as possible so as not to get criticized by hawks for going too soft.
Sanctions relief could potentially open the door to improved diplomacy, even if that isn’t the intent. The US and Iran are both getting hit hard by coronavirus, there is clearly a common crisis between them to bring them together.
“The US and Iran are both getting hit hard by coronavirus, there is clearly a common crisis between them to bring them together.”
That seems to imply there is equal need for both sides to compromise. If Iran had done something to warrant our belligerence then maybe the blame could be shared. Iran hasn’t surrounded us or sanctioned us and was complying with the JCPOA. Until we are willing to change our behavior there is nothing Iran can do short of giving up their sovereignty. No way in hell Pompeo(and his 12 commandments)will let this crises change anything long term.
I think the fat man wants Iran to come to Jesus 🙂
Problem with Pompous-ahole, and the Pence of darkness both, they aren’t anyone the LORD would, or could use to be a witness for Yeshua Christ Jesus because they’re both biblically illiterate. That’s not to say He isn’t using this troika of stooges for His will and purpose right now. Take a look around this world and see how many have pulled away from DC INC, and the corp gangsters, and merchants of death, they serve. This sudden outgoing tide left these rats and cockroaches politicians, and the corp masters they serve, have been left standing on the beach naked to the people of this country, and all the others, just much they’ve stolen, lied to, imprisoned generations of men of color, and how their unfettered greed for money, insatiable lust for power, the ever increasing 100’s of $Bil in corp welfare that gets poured into the bottomless abyss at the pentagon, et al. While the people don’t make enough to pay their bills, keep a roof over their head, while trying to provide a safe, secure, and stable life at home, IN A HOME, while hundreds if not more very livable homes are being snatched up by a league of local, city, county, and state “officials”, along with the banking industry thieves, and these real estate speculators, hide in the darkness.
I’m trying very hard to not revert to profanity, but even as a Protestant Christian minister, who neither helps or recognizes Rome, or this bunch of biblically illiterate evangelicals as anybody but the religious false Christ’s, and wolves in sheep’s clothing, that both our heavenly Father and Yeshua Christ Jesus warned us of many years ago.
Kinda sad the US is willing to ‘protect’ it’s people from COVID-19 by destroying its own economy. However, it’s unwilling too stop it’s policy too overthrow foreign governments even if it means those countries can’t stop the spread of the virus, ensuring continued spread from those countries too the rest of the world and therefore undermining the efforts to protect US from the virus…
Maybe the goal is to decimate those members of US population who are supportive of thrvopposing party? Maybe they did a study on which political party will suffer more from this epidemic? The liberal poor or the conservative old people?
The late Justin Raimondo published many articles at Antiwar.com about the Iranian Communist MEK (MKO, PMOI, NCRI, Rajavi Cult, or Pol Pot of Iran) terrorists. If you search online for a photograph of Mike Pompeo and Alireza Jafarzadeh, you will find one for April 10, 2019. President Trump has included in his administration or as supporters those who support the communist overthrow of Iran, such as: Elaine Chao, John Bolton, and Newt Gingrich. Many corrupt politicians (Democrats and Republicans) have accepted gifts or money from supporters of these communist terrorists in return for making public expressions of support.
This is a common crisis calling for co-operation and easing of sanctions. Whether it can “open the door to improved diplomacy” is another matter. History shows all pandemics pass eventually. This one will. What’ll be left behind in the Middle East is continued great power rivalry, which history warns is always cataclysmic.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
Yup, the US is all heart. So the fat sack of lard is saying this now, I’ll wait to see what this POS says or does tomorrow. Bottom line–US word, promise, signature means squat, as has been proven time and time again.
That’s absolutely true, Solly. The US is all heart now – with Fat-face Pompass saying Iran sanctions may be eased to fight COVID-19 ., But, as you rightly said, you’ll wait to see what this POS says or does tomorrow. Bottom line – US word, promise, signature means squat, has been proven time and time again, Fat-face can never be trusted, as he’s a pathological liar that served in the CIA for a long time before being chosen as SecState.
Finally Trump seems to be showing a bit of humanity with respect of Iran. Fingers crossed he follows through and ignores Mike Pompeo.
The reasons that the U.S. will have very high numbers are obvious and they have nothing to do with China. Everyone should leave their racism and bigotry outside the lock-down where it belongs.
When the SARS virus broke out the world united in defeating it. It did that by isolating all cases and by aggressively tracing anyone who had come into contact with them. The fight was successful. The SARS virus no longer exists outside of high security laboratories.
But when the SARS-CoV-2 evolved there was no united response. One has to wonder why? China did its very best to defeat the virus. It won the fight against the virus within its country but other countries did not join in the effort to eradicate it. SARS-CoV-2 is more contagious than SARS and we will never know if an eradication attempt could have been successful.
The SARS-CoV-1 only existed in high security laboratories. ie it was eradicated but released again either by accident or on purpose. Now we should be asking who released it……….how and why?
A haplotype is a group of genes within an organism that was inherited together from a single parent. There have been 5 separate haplotypes identified around the world in Covid19. The only country where these 5 haplotypes are present is the USA.
The problem here is that the science says it was #MadeInTheUSA. This virus is traceable and it can be proven to be sourced from the US.
In October 2019, the US brought 172 military athletes to Wuhan for the World Military Games. Many never participated in any event and stayed near the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the disease is said to have originated only days after the US left the area.
The US team went home on October 28, 2019 and within 2 weeks, the first human contact cases of COVID 19 were seen in Wuhan. The Chinese have not been able to find “patient zero” and believe he was a member of the US team.
The US had misrepresented influenza as early as October 2019, Japanese experts are claiming, an influenza carried to China by the US team, an influenza that was really COVID 19, a disease developed in a military bio-warfare facility in the state of Washington, now “ground zero” in the US for COVID 19.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lijian Zhao has demanded US authorities reveal what they’re hiding about the origins of Covid-19.
The US is sanctioning other countries and denying medical supplies which is killing people. These are crimes against humanity and may also be defined as genocide. The ICC is currently investigating the US for war crimes and the US responded by threatening the families of the prosecutors. This behavior is unhinged.
The Republicans and Democrats are just 2 cheeks of the same corporate arse. The Democrats are just as complicit in the crimes of the United States of Atrocities as the Republicans.
Ask yourself if you want to live…….because your Oligarchs are implementing suicidal policies that are killing you all. You think im joking…..look around and tell me everything is ok.
This worldwide pandemic will allow us all to compare how different political systems, countries and cultures reacted to the threat. In a year or so, if we survive, we shall all know how free-market capitalism compares with social-democracies or socialist countries.