Families in Iran have been hit hard by the fallout from unprecedented US sanctions that began in August last year. (ABC News: GFX/Jarrod Fankhauser)
ABC News: Donald Trump accused of 'deliberately targeting ordinary citizens' in Iran with US sanctions
The showdown between Washington and Tehran has upended the lives of Iranians, as US President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure campaign" rages on.
Families in Iran have been hit hard by the fallout from unprecedented US sanctions that began in August last year, targeting Iran's key industries including oil, metal, the banking sector and individuals within Iran's leadership.
As a result, the national currency has collapsed, inflation has accelerated eroding wages and a sharp spike in housing prices — which more than doubled in a year — has uprooted tenants and made home ownership unattainable for most.
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WNU Editor: As sanctions continue, the situation for ordinary Iranians is only going to get worse. This will only increase pressure on the Iranian government to do something, and one can only imagine what they may be.
8 comments:
What can Iran do? The USA doesn't need its oil or Gulf oil. Hit US bases in Qatar or SA and the USA hits back. Does that help Iran's economy? Attack US Navy ships and the US hits back. With every $10+ to the price of oil, China gets angrier and China is Iran's patron.
Iran is trapped by American frackers and its Chinese patron and the US ought not to care at all what average Iranian's think about the sanctions. To hell with them too.
When US bombs start to fall in Iran it is likely the people will get behind a bit more their government that has been blaming the US for the economic problems.
If it was the Iranians that hit the oil facilities you can bet the Saudis will be among the first targets not necessarily the US ships. Where next, a deluge of missiles on Tel Aviv? Yes the Israelis will likely have better defenses than the Saudis who seem to have had none but numbers can overpower such defenses.
I doubt all missiles will necessarily have to come from Iran proper.
Beware a trapped rat willing to risk anything to survive. Remember WW II Russia and I bet that if they had had nukes then they would have used them, rather than the kitchen sinks, against the Germans. Remember also their determination against the US supported Iraq forces.
Not really; maybe the people there should rise up and defeat the true Satan and quit blaming America for all its ills. We paid our dues and would support the good Iranians who want to live in peace. Cheers!
Paid your dues? Not likely. Do you forget about the 1950s, the aid given to the Iraqis? Nothing the US has done was ever for the benefit of the Iranian people.
Paid our dues? A UN Trubunal could settle this once and for all but as I've pointed out elsewhere on this site Iran wants no part of it and there's no way to ensure Iranian compliance with any findings of the tribunal nor do I know if anywhere we can find judges for the tribunal that won't either rubbetstamp what Iran wants or will have the character to resist Iranian bullying.
Furthermore Iran's leadership wants/needs this conflict and considerable research suggests to me that much of what they have based their genocidal rage against America on such as the Mossadegh incident is based on gross distortions of history if not out and lies. Such a tribunal risks exposing this lie, a lie that most Americans believe. How might Americans react when they learn Iran based their genocidal rage against them on lies? Iran's media lackeys sold this lie to the world and the American people and most Americans and the world have bought it hook line and sinker. When the lie is exposed, how will the world react? I suspect it wouldn't be pretty for Iran. As such, Iran's leaders will want to avoid this at this time.
In answer to have we paid our dues? We've overpaid our dues on so many levels I couldn't begin to calculate but there's no way for us to collect from those who owe us the dues we've overpaid.
In the case of Iran, there would be no way for us to collect anything the tribunal might find they owe us. Should a fair trial, admittedly a virtual impossibility, find we owe Iran tremendous pressure would be brought to bear on America to ensure Iran is paid in full. If course this means ending the conflict which Iran does not want.
Collecting from those we have overpaid to isn't entirely necessary. Ending the conflict would be aufficient.
What can Iran do? Actually I can think of several things. 1. ) Iran "death to America" wishes to do to Americans what the Nazis did to the Jews only the Iranians have far more allies or at least they did. They could drop their genocidal rage against Americans and move this toward a UN Tribunal or similar forum to resolve all outstanding issues once and for all. For Iran there are a multitude of problems with this approach significantly of which much of what they are basing their genocidal rage against America on is at best a gross distortion of historical events and at worst for them bold faced lies. Such a tribunal risks exposing this. While this is the approach I'd want them to take, this doesn't seem likely. Maybe some day!!
2.) They can hit US bases or other US targets, however, their chief patrons have huge oil deals with beoghboring Iraq that they won't want to be jeopardized and Xi and Putin respect Trump. As such, I do not see them allowing Iran to push things to such a level that the US gets hurt. As such, I don't see this being a viable option for them.
3.) Go back to the JCPOA. Essentially Trump defied the world when he withdrew us from this. (Were I POTUS I'd have likely kept us in this with some assurances from Russia and China. Withdrawing was a VERY RISKY move.) To allow the US back into this without the US suffering a few broken bones would likely be a huge humiliation for Iran that their pride and arrogance won't allow them to do.
4.) Try more attacks like they did on the Saudi oil plants. This doesn't hurt the US in any way but it could weaken resolve among "allies" to keep sanctions in place. The problem with this approach is in spite of the hysterical media hype it turns out the Iranian attack was a dud. Saudi oil production is going to be back up to full capacity in under a month. The Gulf Arab states will be studying this and be better prepared next time. Future attacks are likely to be even more dismal failures and will only serve to turn more people against Iran. When in a hole, stop digging!! Iranian pride and arrogance suggests they'll probably opt for this course.
5 )Try and wait out Trump hoping he's defeated. IMHO this means getting Americans to vote against their interests. This may just work. Initially I dismissed sanctions as a last ditch effort on the part of the administration to try and solve this problem that had absolutely no chance of success. Sanction ms typically have only limited efficacy against small nations who don't have allies. Iran does not meet that criteria. To have put them in place and kept them in place INHO is an incredible feat of diplomatic prowess on the part of Trump. A new POTUS is unlikely to have such diplomatic prowess. For this to work, they would want to keep a low profile for now. Such a profile encourages sanction busting to undermine the hated Americans. Their current approach only underscores that they are thugs.
Poster
The Iranians just did under Trump administration that which they had never attempted under Obama. Why?
Fred,
I had typed a more detailed response to your question on another device. It got deleted before I could post it. Due to work and family commitments today my time is very limited. I will try a condensed response and if time permits a more detailed one later.
First of all I can't say for certain such an attack never was attempted. If it was and was stopped before implementation, the Saudis wouldn't tell us about it. If such an attack was thwarted during the attack and no damage was done, it wouldn't be worthy of as much news as this has gotten.
As to why Iran did this without access to inside information that is in real time, it is hard to know. Based upon experience and knowledge of the principals we can make inferences. The short answer is two possibilities.
1.)Saudi Arabia and Iran have been in a state of conflict with each other for a very, very long time and are currently in a proxy war in Yemen. It could be in this context that the attack occurred. After all Saudi Arabia was attacked. America was not. America is unaffected. The "act of war" is against Saudi Arabia. Trump is irrelevant to the equation or is, at most, marginal in this instance.
2.)The attack may be part of an attempt to weaken sanctions. If so, it appears to have failed. The attack was a dud from this perspective as Saudi oil production will be back at full capacity by the end of the month. This is the assessment and from knowledge gleaned from a number of clients and associates that are in this industry I strongly suspect the actual return to full capacity will be sooner. To the extent that the Saudi leadership signed onto and supported the policy, they might have expected a reprisal. As Trump cannot design, implement, or direct Saudi security procedures, he is not relevant to this.
As to why the Iranians did what they did, I think I have provided two plausible explanations. In your analysis you elevated Trump to a status and influence that he simply doesn't have as it would require him to have more influence over the policies of a foreign country than he can realistically expect to have. Perhaps the contractors who sold the Saudis the defense equipment can have some influence in the assessment of what went wrong and what needs to be done. POTUS is limited here as to what he can do.
For what its worth, I do give Trump high marks for his calm and steady leadership through this. Actually the Saudis seem to have done quite well also leading me to believe there may be some hope for them yet. In retrospect, I think they knew all along the attack was a dud.
As for the Iranians, by their bombastic responses just further reveal who and what they are and underscore the thuggish nature of that government. As for Trump opponents, their hysterical over the top reactions IMHO further underscore why they are unfit to lead. I'm quite grateful that we a person of the caliber of Trump in the position of POTUS a time such as this.
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