Washington Free Beacon: Iran ‘Blackmailing’ U.S. for Greater Nuke Concessions
Experts: Obama admin going above and beyond nuke deal to aid Iran.
The Obama administration is taking steps to aid and please Iran far beyond U.S. commitments under last summer’s nuclear accord, according to experts, who warned Tuesday during testimony on Capitol Hill that the White House is becoming “dangerously close to becoming Iran’s trade promotion and business development authority.”
The Obama administration’s efforts to boost Iran’s economy and resurrect its financial sector are not required under the comprehensive nuclear agreement, yet the White House is undertaking this role to soothe relations with the Islamic Republic, nuclear experts told the Senate Banking Committee.
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WNU Editor: The impression that I am getting is that the Iranians believed that by signing onto this nuclear deal it would then open the floodgates for international trade and investment .... and of course it has not. To get financial institutions to do business with a regime that is unwilling to change their support for groups that many in the West have labelled as terrorist organizations is a tough sale .... doubly so when it comes to investment when Iran is uninterested in changing the myriad of regulations and tax policies that they have when it comes to that. So the Iranians are bitching .... and they are blaming the U.S.. I do expect that with time this is going to pass .... and I am sure that the Iranians must know that .... but for the moment they are having fun yanking the American chain .... and the U.S. is obliging them.
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The Iranians apparently had some rather strange "beliefs" here. America does not have the power to "open the floodgates for international trade and investment." Perhaps Iran believed their own messaging about the expansiveness of American power. While this did/does make it easier for them to demonize America, there is a certain potential for undesired results if someone actually believes one's own false messaging.
Part of the problem is Iran can hoodwink the media, a majority of the world's population, and even many Americans but there are a number of people in high positions who understand the nuances of the situation and that things are not as clear cut as we have been led to believe. As such, some are still probably going to be reluctant to do business with Iran.
"U.S. Treasury officials, since “implementation” day, have been doing the rounds, warning European banks that the U.S. sanctions on Iran remain in place, and that European banks should not think, even for a second, of tapping the dollar or euro bond markets in order to finance trade with Iran, or to become involved with financing infrastructure projects in Iran.
Banks well understand the message: touch Iranian commerce and you will be whacked with a billion dollar fine – against which there is no appeal, no clear legal framework – and no argument countenanced. The banks (understandably) are shying off. Not a single bank or financial lending institution turned up when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Paris to hold meetings with the local business élite."
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/04/01/the-hybrid-war-of-economic-sanctions/
Such making the rounds and warning banks might work against smaller banks and/or individuals who don't have allies or the support of major governments or their officials. For large banks or individuals who have allies of/in major governments, such things are not going to be effecive, would only serve to hasten the end of the dolkar as world reserve currency, and would only strengthen the resolve of people, banks, and nations to do business with Iran.
There are some trust issues Iran will need to address in order to get where they want to go in the most expedient manner possible. While the desire to undrrmine and undercut America, at this point, it doesn't seem worth the risk of doing business with someone who trustworthiness seems questionable.
It would have helped if you had read the article.
Let's say your Credit Lyonnaise, and you elect to undertake a bond issue for AEG to build a cogeneration plant in Iran.
First, the Feds freeze your US Assets, ( $228 billion), hit you with fines of $1 million a day, freeze your US Trading and Holding accounts, ($668 billion and no Wall Street trades), and cut off your access to your -0.15% interest borrowing of US dollars from the Fed.
Next, the interlinking of sanctions means that you are cut off from Libor, so no borrowing of Euro's, no tranferring of funds from your accounts in London, (€546 Billion), Bonn, (€122 billion) or Zurich, (€338 billion), no trading on EU Markets.
Last, none of your Credit Lyonnaise issued debit cards or credit cards work for any of your customers, they can't get letters of credit or transfer funds from a Credit Lyonnaise account to any other Bank in the West.
That's why the BRIC's, Russia, China , Iran and many other States targetted by the US are setting up a whole, completely seperate systems of monetary exchange, loans, interbank trading and electronic financial transactions.
Jay .... you are so right about why the BRICs are trying to set up their own separate system to conduct their financial transactions/loans/exchanges/etc. independent from the West .... but it is a tough slog. Moscow and Beijing have been trying to do this for the past few years .... China more so .... but they lack the knowledge, experience, and infrastructure to make it function at the same level of efficiency as the West. I give them another 10 years .... maybe. As for Iran ... I do expect these restriction will be rescinded in the next few years .... but even then I doubt that they will get the benefits that they were hoping for. They are just too many problems to do business in these countries.
Yup, it's a lot easier, whether you are a mom and pop shop, or a whole Country, to just rent a Point of Sale System and an ATM to stand in the corner, than build one.
More so when you have to duplicate all aspects of an International Financial system in paralell to a 1,000 year old existing systems, with safeguards and firewalls at the intersects that will survive US Sanctions.
There is also great danger involved, as Saddam and Quaffadi found out, because you are "targetting" one of the three "levers" the US has on the World.
Jay,
I did read the article and am familiar with the arguments it makes as the media has pretty made sure all Americans are familiar with this. This kind of thing works against those less powerful and those who do not have the necessary connections with the powerful. It also may work when the banks in question are in agreement with elements of the US government as appears to be the case with Iran.
To use such an approach against the powerful or the well connected will be not only be ineffective but will only serve to hasten the end of the dollar as world reserve currency which is going to happen soon anyway. The only question is it going to be a "hard landing" or a "soft landing." To use such approaches against those who have broad support, not only would not work but would only make a "hard landing" more likely.
To blame the situation on America is a bit like eating pizza late at night. While this may be a "comfort" food for some, it does not sole one's problems and may make them worse. Of course I suspect Iran likes the situation and is rather enjoying watching POTUS and his team grovel. Otherwise they'd be getting all the business they wanted.
POTUS just can't force people to do business with Iran when there are significant trust issues Iran will likely need to work through. Also, the situation provides some degree of political cover for the banks and other institutions who perhaps don't want trouble with Iran. They can point the blame elsewhere all while avoiding the likely legitimate risks of doing business with/in Iran.
While trying to protect the "third lever" of power could explain US interest, in Quaffadi or Saddam, it does not explain the interests that other parties had especially when most of the other parties are largely in agreement that the US dollar as world reserve currency needs to be replaced. As such, they would not be likely to support or assist the US in such endeavors and would likely be actively opposed. Furthermore many nations took enormous risks to assist the US in regards to Iraq.
Since the US dollar will lose its role as world reserve currency soon, it cannot be prevented. All three remaining candidates for POTUS should be asked the following question. "The US dollar is going to lose it's role as world reserve currency during your first term. It cannot be prevented. What is your plan to deal with this situation?"
WNU,
Very respectfully I don't think it is going to take 10 years for the replacement system to be ready. I expect 2 years, 5 at the very most. The system is probably already fully capable of taking over and could probably be brought on line now if they wanted to but I'm sure they are going to be methodical in taking time to work out the so called bugs any new system has before making it fully operational.
I also expect any remaining restrictions against Iran to be lifted in a few years as well. While anti-Americanism has a certain utility, it is going to lose it's utility over time and the Iranians eventually will likely need to address the underlying issues that make some reluctant to do business with them.
I will reiterate. I wish America had a foreign policy more like Canada or Australia.
Were it not so serious, this would actually be quite comical. While Iran actively plots "death to America," team Obama is running around the world acting as Iran's personal representative twisting arms trying to get people to do business with Iran. Not only are there are not as many takers as they expected but the Iranians aren't even appreciative of the extreme efforts being undertaken by team Obama in this regard.
My tentative conclusion is Mr. Obama and his team are incompetent boobs. It's hard to imagine anyone voluntarily submitting themselves to such extreme humiliation.
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