“Sanctions imposed on Iran by our enemies will not have any impact on our nation,” said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a televised address on Monday. “The Iranian nation believes in its rulers,” Khamenei added [IRIB, 9 January].
Notwithstanding Ayatollah Khamanei’s remarks, Iran’s military and civilian officials in recent days have threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz if the new sanctions against the country’s central bank result in disruption of its oil exports.
The threat to block the Strait and the blunt responses by the US and Britain pushed the benchmark Brent Crude price to $113 a barrel on Monday, up by about $6 in the nine days since President Obama signed the new sanctions into law.
Meanwhile, Iran announced today that its new uranium enrichment facility at Fordo will open in the coming days. Western diplomats have been quoted by the media that the enrichment work at Fordo has already begun. The facility is designed to enrich uranium to at least 20 percent purity and is buried in underground bunkers to survive aerial attacks.
No impact on him and his regime but a huge burden on the Iranian people.
ReplyDeletefirst you steal the election, and then you destroy the economy
ReplyDeletetank you mr. khamenei
Khamenei is an old fool who is clutching on to dear power.He believes that his son will influence the future of the political system of Iran.But I'm afraid he is dreaming because the Iranian people have seen the light regarding the mullahs and know how immoral corrupt thieving and murderous they are.
ReplyDeleteSo I will predict that Khamenei is the last of the mullah Godfathers to rule Iran like a grand mosque of the orient.
Truly the Islamic theocracies days are numbered.
Meanwhile, Tehran has done what it knows best: censoring and disrupting the free flow of information.
ReplyDeleteMesghal.ir, a website that provides up-to-the-minute rates for foreign currency and gold, was blocked in Iran last week.
The semi-official news agency ISNA reported that the blocking of the website had led to an increase in the number of people in front of some of the main exchange centers in the Iranian capital.
On top of that, according to the "Shargh" daily and other Iranian news sources, all text messages containing the word "dollar" in Persian were also being blocked.
Let's hope for the sake of worried citizens who have their savings in rials that the Iranian government is taking some real measures to counter its sliding currency.
-- Golnaz Esfandiari
http://www.rferl.org/content/rial_drops_iran_censors/24446672.html
Can you say "delusional"?!
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought the sanctions would cripple Iran, but then I realized that all they have done is hand Iran - which is literally quite possibly the most important small nation in the world, due to its location alone - all they've done is to hand Iran to Russia and China as a gift.
ReplyDeleteThere is no chance in hell that Russia and China will support the sanctions, and thus they are ineffective.
The west is truly stupid to choose Israel over Iran.
P.S. If you don't believe in Iran's importance, compare the Persian Gulf/Afghanistan region
ReplyDelete(a) before the Iranian revolution, when Iran served the west's interest by very successfully policing and managing the area, and during a time when there were no wars or trouble
to
(b) after the Iranian revolution, when Iran gave up that role and, well, . . .
"The facility is designed to enrich uranium to at least 20 percent purity and is buried in underground bunkers to survive aerial attacks."
ReplyDeleteBuilding your enrichment facilities in underground bunkers does not make your program look peaceful Iran.
During the first national conference on the export of knowledge-based goods and services, Iranian officials say the record rise in exports proves the ineffectiveness of US-led sanctions, Press TV reports.
ReplyDeleteThe one-day event held on Saturday was attended by Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and Vice President for Science and Technology Nasrin Soltankhah.
“This year Iran exported crude oil over 90 billion dollars, non-oil exports are expected to top 45 billion dollars by March… sanctions will have no impact on Iran's economy which also happens to have enough gold reserves for 15 years,” Rahimi told Press TV.
Iranian authorities say exports of knowledge-based goods and services reached four billion dollars last year.
Iranian authorities have dismissed the latest move by the US to impose sanctions on Iran's Central Bank, saying that the US and its allies must change their foreign policy and use diplomacy to resolve their issues.
On December 31, US President Barack Obama signed into law fresh economic sanctions against Iran's Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.
The bill requires foreign financial firms to make a choice between doing business with Iran's Central Bank and oil sector or with the US financial sector.
US sanctions, as well as unilateral embargoes imposed on Iran's energy and financial sectors by Britain and Canada came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a report on Iranian nuclear program early November, accusing Tehran of seeking to weaponize its nuclear technology.
Tehran argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Anon 10;15 & 10:23 PM
ReplyDeleteThe West hasn't chosen Israel over Iran but the Islamic extremist regime has chosen to play the anti Western martyr card on the world stage.The retrogressive regime has chosen the circumstances that Iran is in today with their anti Western paranoia.The backward orientated regime has done no favors for Iran with their self inflicted apocalyptic behavior.
What this shows is the Islamic theocracies agenda in using Iran as a launching platform for their world wide Islamic emporium.That means that the Islamic fanatical and barbaric occupier has no regard for Iran for as much as they care it could be Sudan they are occupying.Iran is the main victim and prisoner of a fanatical dogmatic chauvinistic and barbaric Islamic extremist cult in power.
mat,
ReplyDeleteYour post shows the first vice president Rahimi attending the national conference on exports of knowledge-based goods and service, concluding that the rise in export show the ineffectiveness of US-led sanctions.
This is the disconnect: the same official, the first vice president was the very same person who threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if the new US sanctions against the central bank goes into effect and cause disruption of oil exports.
The government cannot talk with both sides of its mouth, and its supporters should also ask the question before repeating the official line: if sanctions are ineffective, which seems to be the case, why threatening to block the Strait because of sanctions? Why Rahimi and Khamenei issue two opposing proclamations in one week? Which one is it: are the sanctions effective justifying closure of the Strait of Hormuz, or are they ineffective as suggested by Khamenei and repeated in your post? What do you personally think, despite what the official party line is?
Iran 'jamming Al-Jazeera broadcasts'
ReplyDeleteIran is jamming broadcasts by Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera, satellite operator Arabsat said in a statement received on Tuesday.
"Al-Jazeera is affected... from two different locations in Iran," near Tehran and near the northwestern city of Maragheh, it said, adding that the cause was located at the request of the pan-Arab news channel.
The satellite television on Sunday announced a new frequency for Arabsat viewers due to "continued interference."
"Over the past few months, Al-Jazeera has faced sustained interference to our satellite transmissions," it said in a statement.
"These occurrences will only strengthen our commitment to continue providing our award-winning coverage across the region 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said the broadcaster.
The influential channel has been criticised by many Arab governments for its coverage of the anti-regime uprisings which have swept the region since the start of 2011.
Officials in Iran's regional ally Syria, have repeatedly slammed Al-Jazeera's coverage of the deadly revolt in the country, which has largely remained sealed off from the foreign media.
The Qatari channel has relied for its coverage on footage of protests posted on the Internet from Syrian activists' mobile phones and webcams.
Egypt's Nilesat satellite operator suspended carrying Al-Jazeera on January 30, 2011 for its coverage of demonstrations before the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.
Last February, Al-Jazeera accused Libya's intelligence services of jamming its broadcasts in the country where a NATO-backed uprising ended the rule of dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
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Living in a vacuum!!!
And Ofcom removed Press TV from their satellite network, and in the US you will go to jail if you transmit Al-Manar.
ReplyDeleteWhat's your point?
Isn't Al-Manar a terrorist TV network?
ReplyDeleteIt is under US law, and you will go to jail for transmitting it. So stfu about censorship of networks as it happens here too.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the transmitting of Al-Manar that's gonna get you sent to jail, it's sending them money as a fee for the transmission that's the core of the problem
ReplyDeleteAl-Manar is available on the internet. I've watched it and sent links to the site for people who didn't believe that it could be viewed.
So maybe it's not quite a censorship deal as much as a ban on sending money to terrorists.