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Keyword: sanctions

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  • Iranian Lawmakers Call For Embargo On Oil Sales To EU

    02/08/2012 5:11:15 AM PST · by edpc · 3 replies
    Haaretz ^ | 8 Feb 2011 | Reuters and AP
    More than two-thirds of Iran's lawmakers have endorsed a statement calling for cutting off oil sales to the European Union before EU sanctions on their country go into effect. The statement, which was read Wednesday in an open session of parliament broadcast on state radio, said "in the case of the continuation of illogical policies" by the EU, Iran will look for alternative customers for its oil before the European embargo goes into effect in the summer. The statement was signed by 200 of the parliament's 290 lawmakers.
  • Israel-PLO Talks End in Amman, Jordan Mulls Sanctions?

    01/25/2012 3:47:48 PM PST · by Eleutheria5 · 6 replies
    Arutz Sheva ^ | 25/1/12 | Chana Yaar
    The final “exploratory” meeting between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization ended Wednesday in Amman with no progress, official said. PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli attorney Yitzchak Mocho made little headway in their fifth meeting, the last before the January 26 deadline set by the Quartet of peacekeeping nations to break the impasse and relaunch direct talks for a final status agreement between the two sides. "Israel has not advanced one step towards resuming negotiations,” a PLO representative told the AFP news agency. Nevertheless, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh characterized the talks as “serious” despite the disagreements on both...
  • Iran Says Europe Hurting Itself With Sanctions

    01/24/2012 2:50:30 PM PST · by Eleutheria5 · 4 replies
    Arutz Sheva ^ | 24/1/12 | Gavriel Queenann
    Iran continues to claim it is reaping the rewards of European sanctions even amid a deep currency crisis that rocks Tehran. In fact, the oil ministry in Tehran claims the embargo would leave Iran unscathed while inflicting "heavy economic loss" on the "people of Europe, who have been affected by crisis". The result would be a "slowdown in global economic growth, particularly in the crisis-hit Western world," said the statement. However, the value of the rial, Iran's national currency, has fallen by around 50 per cent against the dollar in the last month alone as Iran tries to circumvent sanctions...
  • Following New EU Sanctions, Iran Says Closing The Strait Of Hormuz Is Now Its Legal Right

    01/23/2012 7:26:04 AM PST · by blam · 27 replies
    TBI ^ | 1-23-3012 | Robert johnson
    Following New EU Sanctions, Iran Says Closing The Strait Of Hormuz Is Now Its Legal Right Robert Johnson Jan. 23, 2012, 7:49 AM Following the formal adoption of an oil embargo against Iran by the European Union, a senior Tehranian lawmaker says his country now has every right to block all traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The Associated Press reports that Heshmatollah Falahapisheh says that closing the strait is "an increasing possibility" (via Stars and Stripes). The new EU sanctions ban all new oil contracts with Iran, while leaving contracts made before July 1 untouched. The BBC reports that...
  • EU formally adopts Iran oil embargo

    01/23/2012 3:58:49 AM PST · by nuconvert · 7 replies
    -excerpt- Diplomats said the measures, which were adopted in Brussels by the EU's 27 foreign ministers, include an immediate embargo on new contracts for crude oil and petroleum products, while existing contracts will be allowed to run until July.
  • EU Iran sanctions: Nations poised to ban Iran oil imports

    01/22/2012 11:50:58 PM PST · by EnglishCon · 8 replies
    BBC News ^ | 01/23/12 | BBC News
    European Union foreign ministers are expected to announce a phased ban on the purchase of oil from Iran at a meeting on Monday in Brussels. It would be the latest EU measure to be introduced in retaliation for Iran's nuclear programme. The EU currently buys around 20% of Iran's oil exports. Tehran denies that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons and says talks and not sanctions are the only way to resolve the dispute.
  • Red Lines (Oliver North on Obama and Iran)

    01/19/2012 8:06:53 PM PST · by jazusamo · 18 replies
    Creators Syndicate ^ | January 20, 2012 | Oliver North
    WASHINGTON — On Dec. 31, just hours before a New Year's Eve celebration, President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. Section 1245 of the law contains language providing authority to impose economic sanctions on Iran in order to deter the ayatollahs from acquiring nuclear weapons. White House efforts to have the sanctions provision stripped from the bill failed, and the measure became law with a quiet flourish of the presidential pen. Ever since, Washington and Tehran have been waging a war of words. None of this works to the advantage of the American...
  • Senator queries Obama on Iran sanctions

    01/03/2012 8:20:26 PM PST · by SmithL · 5 replies
    WASHINGTON - A Republican senator on Tuesday questioned President Barack Obama's commitment to new sanctions on Iran's central bank, noting the president had claimed the right to sidestep some of the requirements when he signed them into law last week. In a statement issued as he signed a defense bill into law on Saturday, Obama said several provisions including the sanctions that target Iran's central bank "would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations." The president, a Democrat, said in his statement that if any application of these provisions conflicted with his constitutional authorities, "I will treat the...
  • Iran's Riyal Plunges To Record Low After US Sanctions

    01/02/2012 7:58:13 AM PST · by SeekAndFind · 9 replies
    Business Insider ^ | 01/02/2012
    TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's currency hit a new record low to the U.S. dollar on Monday, two days after President Barack Obama signed into law a bill targeting Iran's central bank as part of the West's efforts to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program. State radio said the Iranian currency's exchange rate hovered around 16,800 riyals to the dollar, marking a roughly 10 percent slide compared to Thursday's rate of 15,200 riyals to the dollar. The riyal was trading at around 10,500 riyals to the U.S. dollar in late December 2010. The bill signed by Obama on Saturday includes...
  • Iran Reports Nuclear Progress As Sanctions Loom

    01/01/2012 5:45:20 PM PST · by edpc · 1 replies
    Reuters via Yahoo News ^ | 1 Jan 2012 | Parisa Hafezi
    TEHRAN (Reuters) - - Iran announced a nuclear fuel breakthrough and test-fired a new radar-evading medium-range missile in the Gulf on Sunday, moves that could further antagonize the West at a time when Tehran is trying to avert harsh new sanctions on its oil industry. U.S. President Barack Obama signed a law on Saturday imposing tougher financial sanctions to penalize Iran for a nuclear research programme that the West suspects is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.
  • Iran: We’ll stop the flow of Gulf oil if sanctions are imposed (Threatens to close Hormuz)

    12/28/2011 6:14:33 AM PST · by SeekAndFind · 27 replies
    Hotair ^ | 12/28/2011 | Tina Korbe
    Iran today threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if the United Nations imposes sanctions on Iranian oil as a response to Iran’s sketchy uranium enrichment program, according to a report from Reuters. Iran has defiantly expanded nuclear activity despite four rounds of U.N. sanctions meted out since 2006 over its refusal to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment and open up to U.N. nuclear inspectors and investigators.Many diplomats and analysts believe only sanctions targeting Iran’s lifeblood oil sector might be painful enough to make it change course, but Russia and China - big trade partners of Tehran – have blocked such...
  • Missing Bush

    12/20/2011 5:22:28 PM PST · by fightinJAG · 31 replies
    Weekly Standard ^ | Dec. 19, 2011 | Daniel Halper via badrachel
    Picture of a sign held by Syrian protestors:
  • US House approves tough new Iran sanctions

    12/15/2011 11:03:16 AM PST · by nuconvert · 3 replies
    Mysinchew/AFP ^ | Dec. 15, 2011
    The US House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved tough new sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to freeze what the West says is a nuclear weapons program and punishing Syria and North Korea. US President Barack Obama's Democrats joined the chamber's Republican majority to back the harsh punitive measures in a pair of lopsided votes, 410-11 and 418-2, highlighting Washington's hostility to all three nations. But the fate of the legislation was unclear in the Democratic-led Senate, where aides have said privately that the bills would not reach Obama amid concerns about roiling ties with trading partners as well as...
  • Israel calls for "paralysing" sanctions on Iran ('Syria's Assad family could fall within weeks')

    12/12/2011 11:25:31 AM PST · by Libloather · 1 replies
    Yahoo ^ | 12/11/11
    Israel calls for "paralysing" sanctions on IranReuters – 15 hours ago VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's ruling clerics could use nuclear weapons to strengthen their grip on power and the world must urgently impose crippling sanctions to prevent them from building such arms, Israel's defence minister said on Sunday. Ehud Barak also predicted that Syria's ruling Assad family could fall within weeks and that this would be a "blessing" for the Middle East. "Something is wrong with this family, the way they suppress the will of the Syrian people, killing them, slaughtering their own people," he told a conference in Vienna....
  • 'Obama urging US lawmakers to soften Iran sanctions'

    12/06/2011 2:43:05 PM PST · by tobyhill · 11 replies
    jerusalem post ^ | 12/6/2011 | Reuters
    The Obama administration is urging US lawmakers to soften proposed sanctions targeting Iran's central bank, Senator Mark Kirk said on Tuesday. Kirk, a Republican, is the co-author along with Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of a proposal to penalize foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank, the main conduit for its oil revenues. The Senate approved the proposal last week 100-0 despite lobbying against it by Obama administration officials, who argued that threatening US allies might not be the best way to get cooperation in action against Iran. A similar measure is pending in the House of Representatives;...
  • Top US senator unveils Iran central bank sanctions .

    11/19/2011 9:21:32 PM PST · by Rabin · 4 replies
    Iran Focus ^ | Thursday, 17 November 2011 | Staff
    WASHINGTON (AFP) — Looking to heap economic pressure on Iran over its suspect nuclear program, US senators on Thursday introduced legislation aimed at collapsing the country's central bank with tough new sanctions... The measure, crafted by Republican Senator Mark Kirk, would empower President Barack Obama to cut off any foreign financial institution that does business with Iran's central bank from the US economy and to freeze its US assets... "Without immediate and serious action, the Islamic Republic of Iran will have a nuclear weapons capability in the near future," Kirk said, adding: "We must act now or face the consequences...
  • Exclusive: U.S. to sanction Iran's petrochemical industry

    11/18/2011 7:52:58 PM PST · by Free ThinkerNY · 10 replies
    Reuters ^ | Nov.18, 2011 | Arshad Mohammed
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans to sanction Iran's petrochemical industry, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, seeking to raise pressure on Tehran after fresh allegations it may be pursuing nuclear weapons. The sources said Washington wanted to send a strong signal after the U.N. nuclear watchdog issued a November 8 report saying Iran appeared to have worked on designing an atomic bomb and may still be secretly carrying out related research. The sources, who said the sanctions could be unveiled as early as Monday, said the Washington wanted to find a way to bar foreign companies...
  • Arab League suspends Syrian membership, calls for sanctions against Assad’s regime

    11/12/2011 5:52:26 AM PST · by Cardhu · 15 replies
    Al Arabiya ^ | November 12 3011 | Al Arabiya and Agencies
    The Arab League voted to suspend SyriaÂ’s membership at its meeting on Saturday and said it would impose economic and political sanctions against the regime of Bashar al-Assad as well as call for the withdrawal of Arab ambassadors from Damascus. The Arab foreign ministers meeting at the LeagueÂ’s headquarters in Cairo also called on the Syrian army to cease its involvement in the killing of civilians and invited the Syrian opposition for transition talks. Opponents of Assad were hoping that the Arab League would suspend SyriaÂ’s membership after Assad pressed ahead with a military crackdown on the unrest despite an...
  • Sanctions Imposed on 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists

    10/19/2011 11:04:51 AM PDT · by Stayfree · 1 replies
    Courthouse News Service ^ | Oct. 19, 2011 | CARRIE ANN CHERRY
    April Gallop alleged in her initial complaint that a plane did not hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, but that a bomb had been detonated instead, and members of the government knew about the attack in advance. The 2nd Circuit in Manhattan upheld a federal judge's dismissal of the case after finding that Gallop had "failed to present anything beyond vague and conclusory allegations of conspiracy." In the April 2011 ruling, the three-judge panel ordered Gallop and her attorneys to show cause as to why they should not be sanctioned for forcing the court "to consider, and the government...
  • Turkish PM announces additional sanctions on Israel

    09/06/2011 11:02:57 AM PDT · by americanophile · 21 replies
    CNN ^ | September 6, 2011 | Ivan Watson, Yesim Comert and Kevin Flower
    Istanbul (CNN) -- Turkey's fiery prime minister ratcheted up rapidly-escalating tensions with Israel on Tuesday, comparing Ankara's once-close ally in the Middle East to a "spoiled boy" and announcing additional sanctions would soon be imposed. "We are completely suspending all of these, trade relations, military relations, related with the defense industry," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, according to the semi-official Anatolian Agency. "All of these are completely suspended and other measures will follow this process." Asked to clarify whether this meant Turkey will halt more than $3 billion in bilateral trade, an official in the Turkish prime ministry, speaking on condition...
  • Iran offers 'full supervision' of nuclear program (Provided Sanctions are Lifted)

    09/06/2011 6:32:34 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 5 replies
    AP via Yahoo News ^ | 09/06/2011 | ALI AKBAR DAREINI
    TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's nuclear chief on Monday proposed to allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog "full supervision" of its nuclear activities for five years provided that sanctions against Tehran are lifted, but the official did not give details of his offer. The United Nations has imposed four rounds of Security Council sanctions over Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or materials for an atomic bomb. Iran's nuclear program is already subject to routine IAEA inspections. IAEA cameras monitor Iran's nuclear activities. including its contentious uranium enrichment sites. Vice President Fereidoun...
  • EU to Adopt Ban on Syrian Oil Imports

    09/02/2011 1:03:47 AM PDT · by Eleutheria5 · 4 replies
    Arutz Sheva ^ | 2/9/11 | Elad Benari
    The European Union is expected to announce new sanctions against Syria on Friday, AFP reported. The new sanctions will include a ban on Syrian oil imports and will see the expansion of the EU’s list of people targeted by an assets freeze and travel ban. Four new businessmen accused of bankrolling the regime of President Bashar Assad will be added to the list, diplomats told the French news agency on Thursday. As well, three companies, including a bank, will see their assets in the EU frozen as punishment for the regime's deadly repression of protesters, the sources said on condition...
  • Iran Says Sanctions 'Have No Effect'

    07/05/2011 10:13:12 PM PDT · by Eleutheria5 · 16 replies
    Arutz Sheva ^ | 6/7/11 | Gavriel Queenan
    Iran's defense minister claimed Sunday his country's missile progress demonstrates UN sanctions are ineffective and won't stop Tehran's military initiatives, Gulf News reports. The statement by General Ahmad Vahidi comes during this year's 10-day "Great Prophet-6" war games, which analysts say is Iran's latest show of military might. Tehran, who are billing the war games as a 'sign of peace for the region,' claim they have demonstrated growing self-sufficiency in military and other technologies. Vahidi said Iran's missile program is "indigenous" and has no reliance on foreign countries to meet its defence requirements. Iran is under four sets of UN...
  • Report: US Stopped North Korean Ship

    06/13/2011 3:11:18 PM PDT · by Bean Counter
    <p>WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy forced a North Korean ship on its way to Myanmar to return home after a standoff two weeks ago, The New York Times reported Sunday. The Times said the U.S. suspected the North Korean cargo vessel, the M/V Light, was carrying missile technology to Myanmar.</p>
  • WH pressing UN to Rescind Taliban Sanctions

    06/02/2011 5:28:37 PM PDT · by Frankusa · 4 replies
    First, the spin, compliments of the Obama administration: The Office of Foreign Assets Control plans to withdraw the Taliban Sanctions Regulations issued under former President Bill Clinton, which banned all financial transactions with members of Taliban and placed an embargo on trade with areas of Afghanistan they controlled.... The agency says it is withdrawing the regulations because they were made redundant by the fall of the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and subsequent executive orders which more narrowly targeted individual members of the Taliban... Nice, benign spin, but here's the real deal: The 2012 Presidential campaign has already started, which...
  • Is China Neutralizing N.Korea Sanctions?

    05/22/2011 11:03:14 PM PDT · by Rabin · 2 replies
    chosun ilbo ^ | May 23, 2011 13:41 KST | Staff
    Chinese aid is making up for a large portion of the losses the North is suffering from the South Korean and international sanctions. As long as China refuses to re-evaluate North Korea's security and political value, Beijing's assistance looks set to continue. Here, opposition party lawmakers and leftwing groups are now saying Seoul should lift its sanctions since they have no effect. Some even say Seoul must not let the North fall under Chinese economic control.
  • McCain applauds Obama sanctions against Syria (he praises Obama's "strong and principled action")

    05/18/2011 7:10:05 PM PDT · by rabscuttle385 · 37 replies
    WASHINGTON -- Arizona Sen. John McCain joined three other senators Wednesday in supporting President Barack Obama's decision to impose sanctions on Syrian leader Bashar al Assad and other top Syrian officials. McCain signed the statement along with fellow Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida and Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. "We applaud President Obama for imposing sanctions on Bashar al Assad and other top Syrian officials," the senators' statement said. "The President's strong and principled action today should send an unmistakable message that the United States stands in solidarity with the brave protesters in Syria...
  • EU to Impose Arms Embargo on Syria

    05/09/2011 3:58:21 PM PDT · by Eleutheria5 · 4 replies
    Arutz Sheva ^ | 10/5/11` | Elad Benari
    The European Union announced on Monday that it would be imposing an arms embargo on Syria, The Associated Press reported. In a statement, the EU said that it is banning shipments to Syria of “arms and equipment that could be used for internal repression.” The statement also noted that the EU will be prohibiting 13 Syrian “officials and associates of the Syrian regime” from traveling anywhere within the EU and would be freezing their assets. The 13 have been identified as being responsible for the violent repression against the civilian protests in the country. While the names of the officials...
  • Obama signs order for new sanctions on Syria

    04/29/2011 11:12:48 AM PDT · by Free ThinkerNY · 3 replies
    Reuters ^ | April 29, 2011
    WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Friday imposing new sanctions against Syria's intelligence agency and two relatives of President Bashar al-Assad in response to a crackdown on protests, senior U.S. officials said.
  • In shift, US considers sanctions against Syria's Assad regime

    04/25/2011 8:19:15 AM PDT · by Cardhu · 22 replies
    The Christian Science Monitor ^ | April 25th 2011 | Staff
    The Obama administration is drafting sanctions against Syrian government officials responsible for the escalating violence against protesters, the Wall Street Journal reported. After weeks of treading lightly as it weighed its support for the protesters with a desire to engage with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the White House seems to have come down on the side of the swelling ranks of protesters. Obama condemned the brutality of Syrian security forces after more than 100 protesters were killed in Friday's protests alone, as the total death toll climbed above 300 this weekend. The sanctions would freeze senior government officials' assets in...
  • Why is the Fed Bailing Out Qaddafi?

    04/06/2011 2:50:15 PM PDT · by Tailgunner Joe · 8 replies
    rollingstone.com ^ | April 1, 2011
    Barack Obama recently issued an executive order imposing a wave of sanctions against Libya, not only freezing Libyan assets, but barring Americans from having business dealings with Libyan banks. So raise your hand if you knew that the United States has been extending billions of dollars in aid to Qaddafi and to the Central Bank of Libya, through a Libyan-owned subsidiary bank operating out of Bahrain. And raise your hand if you knew that, just a week or so after Obama’s executive order, the U.S. Treasury Department quietly issued an order exempting this and other Libyan-owned banks to continue operating...
  • Israeli Prime Minister Calls For Strike Against Iran

    03/18/2011 6:50:09 AM PDT · by Strategy · 45 replies
    Russia Today ^ | March 18, 2011
    If Tehran continues with its nuclear program, other nations should threaten it with military action, Benjamin Netanyahu has said. The sanctions imposed on Iran by the United Nations Security Council are not enough, the Israeli prime minister told CNN. He expressed concern that Iran may gain additional influence during the recent upheaval across the Middle East. Iran should know that "if it fails to cooperate, there will be credible military actions," Netanyahu said. He believes it is the only thing that could stop Tehran's nuclear program. According to the prime minister, such actions from the international community would knock out...
  • Obama Administration Prepares Sanctions on Libya, Officials Say

    02/25/2011 11:46:58 AM PST · by ColdOne · 33 replies
    FoxNews.com ^ | February 25, 2011 | AP
    WASHINGTON -- The United States moved closer Friday to imposing new sanctions on Muammar al-Qaddafi's regime after hundreds of Americans were evacuated from Libya. Washington considered closing its embassy in Tripoli as fresh violence rocked the country, sources told The Associated Press. The Obama administration could impose travel bans, freeze assets and take other steps against Qaddafi loyalists as early as Friday, officials said. They said closing the embassy also was an option, though the announcement of any punitive steps depended on the safety of Americans and other foreigners remaining in the Arab country. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity...
  • NCAA specifically targets Lane Kiffin in UT investigation

    02/23/2011 4:50:38 PM PST · by SmithL · 6 replies
    KnoxNews: GoVolsXtra ^ | 2/23/11 | Austin Ward
    The disastrous Lane Kiffin Era has been officially recognized by the NCAA. It doesn't appear Hurricane Lane will be causing much more damage at Tennessee though. The Vols finally received their long-anticipated Notice of Allegations on Tuesday, and when released publicly for the first time by the athletic department on Wednesday, the broken rules all had a similar theme. The 16 impermissible phone calls, impermissible contact with recruits and the use of an intern to make contact with a high school staff all happened under Kiffin's watch - and the NCAA specifically targeted him with charges of failure to monitor...
  • Point Man on U.S. Sanctions to Depart

    01/23/2011 10:22:48 PM PST · by Nachum · 1 replies
    wsj ^ | 1/24/11 | JAY SOLOMON
    ISTANBUL—The point man for the Obama administration's financial wars on Iran, North Korea and al Qaeda, Stuart Levey, has decided to leave his senior U.S. Treasury Department post at what is turning out to be a particularly critical time. Mr. Levey's departure will leave President Barack Obama without the principal architect of Washington's economic-sanctions campaign against Tehran, just as that campaign is likely to be ramped up following the breakdown of talks among Iran, the U.S. and a bloc of global powers on Saturday. The negotiations, held in Turkey, were aimed at curtailing Iran's nuclear program. With no date set...
  • How Sanctions Can Work With Iran (Michael Rubin)

    12/15/2010 5:05:47 AM PST · by nuconvert · 8 replies
    Pundicity/Miichael Rubin ^ | Dec. 15, 2010 | Michael Rubin
    -Excerpt- (on engagement with Iran)The second issue is with regard to with whom we engage. Many people talk about different Iranian power centres. The fact of the matter is, however, that we shouldn't be engaging with people who don't have power over the decision making in Iran. It's not enough to say 'Well, we engaged with this diplomat, but the Revolutionary Guard did this, so we can't blame Iran for its lack of sincerity'. Either we're engaging with the wrong people, or Iran is being insincere. What I do notice is that while the Americans seem to celebrate meeting with...
  • Sanctioning Iran (Michael Rubin)

    10/31/2010 6:48:02 AM PDT · by nuconvert · 1 replies
    Weekly Standard ^ | Michael Rubin
    Iran today may be the most sanctioned country on earth. After the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 2005 finding that Tehran was not in compliance with its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards obligations, the United Nations Security Council has slapped four sets of sanctions on the Islamic Republic, the most recent round in June. However, in order to hide its activities and protect its resources, the Iranian regime has mastered a version of Three-card Monte: For every Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps front company or bank that the international community sanctions, the Iranian government simply creates another. The fact is that the quest...
  • Obama loosens sanctions on C-130s to China; Timing of waiver questioned by critics

    10/12/2010 8:54:34 AM PDT · by Nachum · 18 replies
    Washington Times ^ | 11/12/10 | Bill Bertz
    President Obama issued a waiver loosening Tiananmen arms sanctions for C-130 military transports for China a day after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to an imprisoned Chinese dissident who dedicated the prize this past weekend to the victims of the 1989 crackdown. Chinese state-run news media on Monday hailed the White House waiver announcement as a sign Washington is moving to lift the 11-year-old arms embargo. However, White House National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer said the waiver issued on Saturday will not allow C-130s sales. "Under this announcement, we are not selling any aircraft to anyone," he stated...
  • Unpaid Workers Go On Strike In Iran

    10/08/2010 3:29:29 PM PDT · by nuconvert · 7 replies
    RFE/RL ^ | Oct. 8, 2010
    Workers at two plants in southern Iran went on strike this week to demand unpaid wages, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. An employee at Kaghaz Pars Haftapeh, a paper mill in southwestern Iran, told RFE/RL on October 7 on condition of anonymity that workers had not been paid for three months. "Our production remains at a normal level, we produce and distribute paper, but we don't receive our salaries," he said. "I don't know where the money is going." He added that "the plant's retired workers have not received their pensions since last year -- they live in absolute poverty." A...
  • Dutch deliver banned nuclear equipment to Iranian group

    10/08/2010 3:37:27 PM PDT · by nuconvert · 2 replies
    BERLIN – Authorities in the Netherlands improperly supplied nuclear equipment to the sanctioned Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), the Dutch Economic Affairs Ministry wrote in an October 4 letter obtained by The Jerusalem Post. According to Economic Affairs Minister Maria van der Hoeven’s letter, “That shipment contained a helium-leak detector, which was ordered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in line with its technical cooperation program with Iran, [but] was shipped to a banned recipient (AEOI).” The UN agency’s involvement in the delivery of EUsanctioned material raises thorny questions about the role of the IAEA in monitoring Iran’s...
  • Two US-targeted Iranian officials mock new sanctions

    10/03/2010 7:01:50 PM PDT · by nuconvert · 9 replies
    France 24/AFP ^ | October 2, 2010
    AFP - Two of the eight Iranian officials targeted by Washington with sanctions for alleged human rights abuses on Saturday mocked the moves against them by US President Barack Obama as a "joke." Welfare Minister Sadeq Mahsouli and deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan said Obama's decision questioned the very perception of the United States as a superpower.
  • Total, Shell, Statoil, Eni Pull Out of Iran

    10/02/2010 9:44:30 AM PDT · by epithermal · 9 replies
    Rigzone ^ | September 30, 2010 | Dow Jones Newswires
    Energy giants Total, Shell, Statoil and Eni have pledged to end their investments in Iran. The pledges fall in line with tough new energy and financial measures the U.S. Congress imposed on Iran in June, which came atop U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed earlier the same month to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
  • 4 firms stop investing in Iran

    09/30/2010 7:49:09 PM PDT · by nuconvert · 1 replies
    WASHINGTON - UNDER threat of US sanctions, European oil firms Total, Shell, Statoil and Eni have pledged to stop investing in Iran in what amounts to a 'significant setback' to Teheran, a US official said on Thursday. The pledges fall in line with new energy and financial measures against Iran that US President Barack Obama signed into law in July in the wake of UN Security Council sanctions imposed in June to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. 'We have received commitments from four international energy firms to terminate their investments and avoid any new activity in Iran's energy sector,' Deputy Secretary...
  • U.S. imposes rights sanctions against Iran

    09/29/2010 2:05:10 PM PDT · by nuconvert · 8 replies
    WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Iranian officials accused of serious human-rights abuses are targeted under a new round of U.S. sanctions, the White House announced Wednesday. President Barack Obama signed an executive order that authorizes the departments of State and Treasury to impose sanctions on eight Iranian government officials tied to serious human-rights abuses against the people of Iran, a White House statement said. -excerpt- The individuals listed are subject to financial sanctions and visa ineligibility under U.S. law, the statement said.
  • The Chinese Moment In Iran

    09/25/2010 12:27:48 AM PDT · by bruinbirdman · 9 replies
    AFPC China Reform Monitor ^ | 9/16/2010 | Ilan Berman
    If economic sanctions fail to stop Iran's march toward the bomb, and either the U.S. or Israel is compelled to use force against the Iranian nuclear program, China will shoulder at least some of the blame. Since this summer, concerted international pressure has unmistakably tightened the financial noose around Iran's ayatollahs. The June passage of a new round of United Nations sanctions against the Islamic Republic has been followed by an exodus of European and Asian firms from the Iranian market, and new, stricter regulations on financial dealings with the regime in Tehran. Simultaneously, unilateral American sanctions have honed in...
  • Ahmadinejad: Sanctions against Iran ‘meaningless’

    09/19/2010 7:25:49 PM PDT · by Nachum · 9 replies
    Jerusalem Post, ^ | 9/19/10 | Jordana Horn
    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who arrived in New York on Sunday for the UN General Assembly meetings this week, described international sanctions against his country as meaningless and ineffective, as consternation about Iran’s nuclear future grows. When asked about Fidel Castro’s recent comments, in which the Cuban leader told Ahmadinejad to stop attacking the Jews, denying the Holocaust and being anti- Semitic, Ahmadinejad said he is not an anti-Semite. “We’ve never been anti- Semitic – when was I anti- Semitic?” he said. “The Jews live in Iran, like every other person who lives in Iran freely.”
  • S. Korea announces independent sanctions on Iran

    09/08/2010 12:30:02 AM PDT · by Rabin · 10 replies
    Xinhua News Agency ^ | 2010-09-08 13:15:43 | Frank Chun
    Bank Mellat, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), have facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions to help aid Iran's nuclear, missile, and defense entities.
  • Iran sanctions

    08/21/2010 8:18:42 AM PDT · by luckybogey · 2 replies
    The Korea Herald ^ | August 19, 2010 | Editorial
    Among U.S. allies across the world, Korea faces perhaps the biggest dilemma over the U.S.-initiated sanctions against Iran for its nuclear development program. Iran is Korea’s biggest export market in the Middle East and joining in the sanctions will instantly affect the trade with a two-way volume of $1 billion. But Seoul, on the joint front with Washington in the hard process of denuclearizing North Korea, cannot afford to lose U.S. confidence in its support for the global nonproliferation efforts. Washington delivered its specific requests for the anti-Iranian measures when Robert Einhorn, the State Department’s special advisor, visited Seoul earlier...
  • Greta: This is my outrage of the day (What is with South Korea???)

    08/20/2010 10:36:37 PM PDT · by Gene Eric · 30 replies
    Fox News ^ | August 20, 2010 11:02 AM | Greta Van Susteren
    South Korea - a country that we have been protecting with our soldiers and their lives for more than 60 years - is dragging its feet in helping us deal with the Iran-nuclear weapons problem. How many Americans have lost lives for South Korea? How many soldiers do we have there now? and what about the cost to Americans to protect South Korea? They are dragging their feet because they make lots of money in Iran...but, besides the loyalty issue to the United States for years of help and friendship, would you not also think they would want Iran to...
  • Activist sues Nokia Siemens in US over Iran cell monitoring

    08/17/2010 11:43:13 AM PDT · by nuconvert · 3 replies
    WASHINGTON — An Iranian activist is suing Nokia Siemens before a US court, accusing the firm and its parent companies of supplying the Iranian government with technology it used to spy on dissidents. Moawad & Herischi, the Maryland firm that filed the suit Monday, said Isa Saharkhiz alleges "human rights violations committed by the Iranian government (were carried out) through the aid of spying centers which were provided by Nokia Siemens Networks." The firm said Isa Saharkhiz, an Iranian journalist and political dissident, was arrested "as a result of the surveillance and monitoring of his cell phone communications in the...