Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a vague threat against U.N. members that try to enforce the June 9 U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized inspections on Iranian ships and aircraft suspected of carrying prohibited materials for Iran’s nuclear or ballistic missile programs: “You should know whoever takes a decision against the Iranian nation, such as the so-called inspection of the Iranian ships or so-and-so toward its aircraft, will immediately receive Iran’s reaction,” he warned in a speech broadcast live on radio. Ahmadinejad’s warning is part of a heavy-handed Iranian …
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki today insisted that sanctions would have little effect on Iran while his bombastic boss, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whined about the sanctions. Mottaki wrote letters to the foreign ministers of the fifteen members of the U.N. Security Council that criticized “the hasty adoption, at the insistence of America and its allies, of an unjust and illegal resolution against the great nation of Iran” and asserted that Iran is now “more determined” than ever to push forward on its nuclear program. Mottaki, an active pen pal, also …
Congress put the finishing touches on a long-awaited Iran sanctions bill yesterday when House and Senate lawmakers agreed to a final version of the sanctions, which will penalize Iran for its nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and human rights abuses. This latest round of sanctions would disrupt Iran’s energy and banking operations by cutting off access to the U.S. market for firms that supply Iran with refined petroleum products such as gasoline, ship Iran’s crude oil abroad or insure its oil shipments. U.S. banks would be banned from conducting business with foreign …
After securing a mild sanctions resolution at the U.N. Security Council against Iran earlier this week, the Obama Administration is now lobbying Congress to dilute pending Iran sanctions legislation. The administration wants the authority to waive penalties against companies that sell gasoline or other refined oil products to Iran if those companies are based in countries that have cooperated in imposing U.N. sanctions on Iran. This is viewed by many in Congress as another concession to Russia, China, and European countries that have resisted American efforts to impose much tougher …
Today the United Nations Security Council voted to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran which modestly raise the costs to Tehran for its continued nuclear defiance, but fall far short of the “crippling sanctions” promised by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last year. The sanctions resolution marginally reinforced a previous set of economic, military and high-technology sanctions against Iran and added new bans on Iranian investment in sensitive nuclear activities abroad, the sale of eight categories of heavy weapons to Iran and the establishment in U.N. member states …
“The lights are turning red,” droned the song by the Eagles. They could have been singing about Iran, which continues to make US foreign policy look like a bad Saturday Night Live skit. In last minute deal making with Russia over sanctions on Iran, the US caved to Moscow objections over selling advanced air and cruise missile defenses to Tehran. This is a particularly disruptive retreat by Obama’s State Department, one that makes an Israeli military strike more, not less, likely. Meanwhile, Iran continues to play rope-a-dope. The speaker of …
According to The New York Times, the Obama administration has agreed that Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles will be allowed for sale to Iran under the UN Security sanctions proposal. This loophole will be allowed under the “defense weapons sales” which Moscow demanded as a concession in exchange for its support for sanctions. The S-300 is a long range anti-aircraft missile system capable of engaging and shooting down multiple enemy aircraft. Russia announced the sale in 2007, but refrained from delivering it due to the US and Israeli pressure. If Iran …
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today used the annual celebration of the anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution to announce that Iran has become a “nuclear state.” Although the bombastic dictator has made this claim before, his exultant announcement came shortly after Iran had announced that it would enrich uranium to the 20 percent level that it claims it needs to fuel a research reactor that is scheduled to run out of fuel later this year. Ahmadinejad proclaimed: “I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of …
Iran’s announcement today that it is a nuclear state makes the appointment of the spectacularly inexperienced Catherine Ashton as EU Foreign Minister even more ridiculous. Her speech at the Munich Security Conference last weekend was a snoozer of epic proportions – even by Brussels standards. However, it was her statements on Iran which beggar belief. At exactly the time when everyone’s patience has finally run out with Iran, Mrs. Ashton decides, not to side with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in calling for sanctions forthwith, but instead, publicly sides with the …
The Senate yesterday passed a bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran and on companies that assist Iran’s oil industry. The legislation, S.2799, targets companies that supply Iran with gasoline and other refined products or help it to expand its refinery capacity. Although Iran possesses the world’s third largest oil reserves, it must import approximately 40 percent of its gasoline supplies because of a lack of refinery capacity. The House voted to pass similar legislation last month by a vote of 412-12. The Senate vote came the day after …
