Iran Bad, Iran Bad, Iran Bad

What amazes me is that the US has imposed sanctions on Iran since 1979. So for 30 years they have crippled Iran's economy for what reason ? Because they refuse to be a little US puppet and have the temerity to decide their own future. Why, oh why is the US and its lackeys so god damn cruel ? Seriously, what has Iran, who hasn't attacked anyone else in 271 years, done to deserve the hatred and wicked actions of the US against them ?

You may find some of this information about the sanctions regime against Iran interesting :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctions_against_Iran

The first U.S. economic sanctions against Iran after the Iranian Revolution were in 1979. In response to the permitting of the exiled Shah to enter the United States and rumors of another U.S. backed coup and re-installation of the Shah, a group of radical students seized the American Embassy in Tehran. The United States responded by freezing about $12 billion in Iranian assets, including bank deposits, gold and other properties. Some assets —Iranian officials say $10 billion, U.S. officials say much less— still remain frozen pending resolution of legal claims arising from the revolution.

After invasion of Iran by Iraq, the United States intensified Iran's sanctions. In 1984, sanctions were approved to oppose all loans to Iran from international financial institutions, prohibit weapons sales, and prohibit all assistance to Iran. In 1987, the U.S. further prohibited the importation and exportation of any goods or services from Iran.

Pragmatist President Rafsanjani, a critic of President Ahmadinejad, says that he had tried to reduce tensions between Iran and the West, although his term was marked by some of the toughest sanctions against Iran. In April 1995, President Bill Clinton issued a total embargo on dealings with Iran, prohibiting all commercial and financial transactions with Iran. Trade with the U.S., which had been growing following the end of the Iran–Iraq War ended abruptly. One exception is that US-made goods can be supplied to Iran under certain circumstances as long as they are shipped to Iran from another country. This exception was a result of the original Executive Order restricting trade with Iran.

The next year, the United States Congress passed the Iran–Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) which threatened even non-U.S. countries making certain investments in Iran. Under ILSA, all foreign companies that provide investments over $20 million for the development of petroleum resources in Iran will be imposed two out of seven possible sanctions, by the U.S.

* denial of Export-Import Bank assistance;
* denial of export licenses for exports to the violating company;
* prohibition on loans or credits from U.S. financial institutions of over $10 million in any 12-month period;
* prohibition on designation as a primary dealer for U.S. government debt instruments;
* prohibition on serving as an agent of the United States or as a repository for U.S. government funds;
* denial of U.S. government procurement opportunities (consistent with WTO obligations); and
* a ban on all or some imports of the violating company.

In response to the election of Iranian reformist President Mohammad Khatami, President Clinton eased sanctions on Iran. A debate in the US Congress on whether to allow the expiration of ILSA, which some legislators argued hindered bilateral relations, and others argued would be seen as a concession on an effective program, ended on August 5, 2001, with its renewal by the Congress and signing into law by President George W. Bush. Furthermore, in January 2002, IEEE stripped Iranian members from full membership privileges and support of activities, and without notice, blocked Iranian members from accessing their e-mail accounts. In February 2004, during the final year of the reformist era, the U.S. Department of the Treasury ruled against editing or publishing scientific manuscripts from Iran, and stated that U.S. scientists collaborating with Iranians could be prosecuted. Khatami government could only manage to reduce the sanctions for some items like pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, caviar or Persian rugs, in 2000.

After being elected president in 2005 Ahmadinejad reversed the retroactive nuclear policy and lifted the suspension of uranium enrichment, that had been put in place by the reformists.

The U.S. government imposed sanctions on an Iranian bank on September 8, 2006, barring it from dealing with U.S. financial institutions, even indirectly. The move against Bank Saderat Iran was announced by Stuart Levey, the undersecretary for treasury, who accused the major state-owned bank in Iran of transferring funds for certain groups, including Hezbollah. While Iranian financial institutions are barred from directly accessing the U.S. financial system, they are permitted to do so indirectly through banks in other countries. But the latest move severs that access for Bank Saderat and Levey said the action does not apply to other Iranian banks.

Levey said the U.S. government will also persuade European banks and financial institutions not to deal with Iran. Florida enacted a boycott on companies trading with Iran and Sudan in June 2007, while New Jersey's state legislature was considering similar action.

As of November, 2007, the following Iranian banks are prohibited from transferring money to or from United States banks:

* Bank Sepah
* Bank Saderat Iran
* Bank Melli Iran
* Bank Kargoshaee (aka Kargosa’i Bank)
* Arian Bank (aka Aryan Bank)
* Bank Mellat
* Persia International Bank PLC

The total assets frozen in Britain under the EU (European Union) and UN sanctions against Iran are approximately 976,110,000 pounds ($1.64 billion).

According to an Iranian journalist using the name "Sara Shams", one of the effects of sanctions in Iran is expensive basic goods, another is an aging and increasingly unsafe aircraft fleet. "According to reports from Iranian news agencies, 17 planes have crashed over the past 25 years, killing approximately 1,500 people."

The U.S. denies aircraft manufacturer Boeing the freedom to sell aircraft to Iranian aviation companies. The International Civil Aviation Organization warned that U.S. sanctions against Iran were placing civilian lives in danger by denying Iranian aviation necessary spare parts for aircraft repair.


According to the U.S. National Foreign Trade Council, in the medium-term, lifting US sanctions and liberalizing Iran’s economic regime would increase Iran's total trade annually by as much as $61 billion (at the 2005 world oil price of $50/bbl), adding 32 percent to Iran’s GDP. In the oil-and-gas sector, output and exports would expand by 25-to-50 percent (adding 3 percent to world crude oil production).

Iran could reduce the world price of crude petroleum by 10 percent, saving the United States annually between $38 billion (at the 2005 world oil price of $50/bbl) and $76 billion (at the proximate 2008 world oil price of $100/bbl). Opening Iran’s market place to foreign investment could also be a boon to competitive US multinational firms operating in a variety of manufacturing and service sectors.

In 2009, talk in the U.S. of implementing "crippling sanctions" (such as the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009) against Iran "if diplomatic overture did not show signs of success by the autumn" was attacked by Prof. Hamid Dabashi as likely to bring "catastrophic humanitarian consequences".
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Let's call sanctions what they really are - a siege. They are no different to a medieval siege.

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