Major diplomatic progress with Iran has led the State Department to warn against trying to impose further sanctions against the nation, and the White House is considering unfreezing some Iranian assets as a confidence builder.
That’s uncomfortable territory for some in the US Senate, particularly a collection of hawks who issued a statement today promising to push through a new bill imposing yet more sanctions.
The senators are arguing that Iran’s interest in diplomacy vindicates past sanctions, and proves that the harsh economic warfare was effective in getting concessions. This “effectiveness” seems undercut dramatically by the senators’ blanket opposition to any such deals, and determination to keep the sanctions in place no matter what.
For even as the statement demanded Iran to suspend its nuclear program unilaterally, it didn’t even support easing the sanctions in that event, saying only that this would be enough to consider not imposing any new sanctions.
The millionaires club isn't happy unless they are collectively punishing poor people of color somewhere in the world. Because the very basis of Western capitalism employs racism to justify economic warfare around the world. And if that doesn't work it escalates to just plain war.
You were asleep now the have the whip hand who dares to stop them.
Ask any of these senators where is Iran, can they speak the language, do they know anything about Iranian culture, do they know anything about Iranian history and above all if any one of them can define the word democracy, what is based on, who is it for when functions, would deceptive warmongering policies, killing innocent people's be part of democracy, or…….
Regardless of what they know where any country is the fools speak and act that way for the Israeli settlers who controls aipac that controls the US govt.
Jack London – You have asked too many questions, just only ask them if they are educated enough to be Law Makers………..very simple and short question and I am very sure they will not be able to answer it straight.
They know all there is to know about Iran, AIPAC told them!
Why should they know any of the things you mentioned?they get their pack and instructions from AIPAC.
Good time to just start ignoring the sanctions. Obviously, if it's just a screw you catch 22 what credibility does it have? At least tell 'em to come up with what specifically they want before they'd support lifting them. Then watch 'em scurry back to the Jewish Lobby and … probably just shut up and try to wait you out … Or try to depict that question as a topic too broad –as, indeed, they're already out of their own depth.
Boom-Boom McCain will be satisfied when the Pahlavi dynasty is restored.
lol. Tellin' ya, though. If they just got told to specify in detail what they'd want to lift sanctions –with sufficient publicity, etc., they'd be exposed as a horror show pretty quick.
hear hear
Have these fools not realized that the more America tightens the screws the harder it will be to have regime change from within! The US has the Problem that it has for seventy years been interfering in the internal politics of Iran and the people remember it well and why they like aspects of America they also remember the not so nice aspects of disappearances that it entailed! It also doesn't help that the constant comment about Israel which is always put forward by Israel is not true, and whilst not reported as thus in the US, Iranians who heard the original speech KNOW what it really said! The old story tell a lie often enough and it must be true!
Classic bureaucratic circular logic. Just like when the local cops say, "crime is up, we need more money to fight it." and at another time "crime is down, what we're doing is working so now is the time to spend more on what we're doing". Heads they win, tails you lose. Simple, actually.
there plenty of terrible people in the US congress..
those that hate others and think one little group is the best….
are the worst…
We all know that the Jewish State is calling the shots, and most of these Senators will pimp their mothers just to be in bed with AIPAC.
I could not say it better
Economic sanctions are an act of war. The Senators mentioned in the linked article (Rubio, Kirk, Graham, and Ayotte – how did McCain not get mentioned???) are all warmongers of the first degree. Sanctions are also a political tool as well as being well within the realm of "foreign relations" which are generally believed to be part and parcel of the Executive Branch. In this case, the actions of the Senate are counterproductive to what the Administration is trying to do.
The urgent need to make our "political representatives" [both in DC and at every US embassy] educated/knowledgeable about the benefits of diplomacy rather than wars [just think of the trillions wasted in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, et al] requires an increased commitment to diplomacy as a major step away from the dominant military/neocons. Hopefully it would decrease the likelihood of huge trillion dollars foreign policy blunders based on a lack of knowledge.
In bar talk language what the hell do the Rubio's. Ayotte's and friends know about foreign diplomacy and save the taxpayers trillions of dollars and deaths?
I have yet to see any American writer refer to our "problem" with Iran other than to begin with the embassy takeover in 1979. They are all apparently ignorant of what is in every encyclopedia of how Mohammed Mossadegh was deposed by the CIA in 1953, after his election in 1951, acting "at the request" of MI6, then imprisoned for three years, died under house arrest, and buried in his home to avoid public furor. All this under the son of the shah they had voted out. An identical analogy would be if the British had successfully caused George Washington and his regime to be deposed and the American Revolution cancelled. The CIA still boasts of this as their positive watershed operation. If the foregoing analogy would have happened what would American school children have been taught and what would have been the American public's permanent attitlude toward Britain and her ally? Mossadegh's electoral victory, the first peaceful overturn of true old-fashion colonialism preceded Nasser's removal of the British puppet King Farouk in Egypt by several years continues unmentioned by American commentators. Yet the Congressional warmongers, true enemies of peace, who must be "deposed", want bomb, bomb, bomb. Kill, kill, kill.
Your govt have the people of America hornswoogled and with the patriot act there is no more librerty so you all are screwed.The Russian people enjoy much more freedom
I always shake my head in wonder at the gall of a bunch of rednecked hypocrites half a world away dictating to other sovereign countries what they can and cannot do! Like it is any of their goddam business in the first place, how they would howl and carry on if another nation turned around and started saying fuck you America, we are freezing your assets in our country, expelling all of your government drones and spies and putting in place sanctions and embargo's on trade into and out of your country. There would be howls of indignation and calls to bomb the shit out of whoever suggests such a thing. Come to think of it, that happened in Iraq, and Libya, and in more distant times Panama and other
Senators afraid of losing the Jewish bribe money (ie campaign contributions). Bribe money they receive each campaign season to become the paid agents of a foreign country. Bribe money they receive to betray our country.
What the Iranians need to do is take action that shows the US and Israel that their aggressiveness — threats and sanctions — are not merely ineffective, but actually counterproductive, that is, decidedly against US/Israeli interests and materially dangerous. Otherwise how can the US be motivated to back off on sanctions, when there is no downside strategically or politically to maintaining them. What Iran needs to do is withdraw from the NPT. Arrange for the last observation of IAEA inspectors to be the removal of all centrifuges from Natanz and Fordow to an unknown location. That location would be so deep underground as to be safe from even penetrating nuclear "bunker busters". Then the Iranians should, as quickly as possible enrich , say, ten bombs worth of highly enriched — ie weapons grade — uranium, and establish a public "scoreboard" that keeps track day by day of how many bombs worth of uranium they have.
No bombs mind you, just a tally of how many bombs worth they have today, and then how many they have tomorrow, etc.
Then they could start the process of weapons design. Start that in public view, all the details in public view, so that all the world — but particularly the US and Israel — could note their progress. Then once they have a final design for a basic fission bomb, begin the development, in public view, of a fusion — ie hydrogen — bomb.
Sphincters tightening, this would "incentivize" the US, somewhere along in this process, to consider removing the sanctions in return for bringing the process to a halt. The only other option would be full on war with all the trimmings: invasion and long-term occupation with unrelenting insurgent guerrilla war.
I believe however that the mullahs are more conservative than provocative, and will favor bearing up under the sanctions for as long as it takes, decades even. Kinda like Cuba.