Obama Folds To Iran (Again), Will Delay New Sanctions After Rouhani Threat
On Thursday, we detailed the Obama administration’s plan to impose fresh sanctions on Iran in connection with the test-firing of Tehran’s next-generation, surface-to-surface ballistic missile the Emad back in October.
While the launch did not technically violate the nuclear accord (on which the ink is barely dry), it did run afoul of a UN Security Council resolution on developing and testing missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. That prompted some US lawmakers to call for new penalties against the country just as international sanctions are set to be lifted.
The new measures reportedly target around a dozen companies and individuals with ties to Tehran’s ballistic missiles program including:
- U.A.E.-based Mabrooka Trading and its founder, Hossein Pournaghshband
- Hong Kong-based Anhui Land Group
- Five officials from Iran’s Ministry of Defense for Armed Forces Logistics, or MODAFL including Sayyed Javad Musavi, a key figure at a MODAFL subsidiary which has been the subject of Treasury Dept. sanctions in the past
Iran immediately responded, calling the sanctions “arbitrary and illegal.” As a reminder, the Iranians vigorously defend their right to pursue what they call “defensive” capabilities. Tehran says its missile program falls into that category.
For his part, President Hassan Rouhani was not pleased and ordered his defence minister to immediately expand Iran's missile programme. This is precisely what we warned would happen on the heels of the Emad launch when we said the following:
“..imposing sanctions on countries in order to deter their defense buildup (Iran) or otherwise force them into acting in a way that fits your definition of being an internationally responsible country (Russia) is a fool's errand to the extent that it only serves to aggravate the situation and perpetuates still more of the very same behavior you're trying to deter in the first place."
Of course the more immediate question for The White House was whether the new sanctions would derail the nuclear accord which, as regular readers are no doubt aware, is a rather important part of Obama’s legacy. John McCain - among others - have accused the administration of tolerating incessant Iranian sabre rattling in a desperate attempt to preserve the deal. “Strict, aggressive, and consistent enforcement is critical to punishing Iran for its destabilizing behavior and making the nuclear deal work,” McCain said, in the wake of an “incident” in the Strait of Hormuz involving what Washington says was a “close call” with Iranian rockets.
In a move that will almost certainly infuriate GOP lawmakers, The White House has decided to mothball the new sanctions. “The White House has delayed its plan to impose new financial sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program,” WSJ reports, citing US officials. The move comes “amid growing tensions with Iran over the nuclear deal struck earlier this year,” The Journal adds. Here’s more:
U.S. officials offered no definitive timeline for when the sanctions would be imposed after the decision was made Wednesday to delay them. At one point, they were scheduled to be announced Wednesday morning in Washington, according to a notification the White House sent to Congress.
Republican leaders on Thursday accused the Obama administration of losing its will to challenge Iran after Tehran countered on Thursday that it would accelerate the development of its arsenal.
“If the president’s announced sanctions ultimately aren’t executed, it would demonstrate a level of fecklessness that even the president hasn’t shown before,” said Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), a leading critic of the nuclear deal, in an interview.
Critics of the planned sanctions had already charged they weren’t an adequate U.S. response to Iran’s continuing development of its missile program.
President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday morning on Twitter that he had instructed Iran’s Ministry of Defense to accelerate the development of ballistic missiles in response to the news reports of the impending U.S. sanctions.
The State Department was keen to note that the decision was not in any way related to Rouhani's comments. In a hilariously absurd testament to just how indecisive the current administration has become, Obama was apparently ready to announce the sanctions at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, then got cold feet and pushed the announcement back "a few hours" before cancelling it altogether. Here's The Times again:
The White House on Wednesday morning sent a notification to Congress that the Treasury Department would announce at 10:30 a.m. new sanctions on nearly a dozen companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates for their alleged role in developing Iran’s ballistic missile program. The sanctions would have been the first imposed on Iran since the nuclear agreement was reached last July in Vienna.
The White House then sent a second email to congressional offices at 11:12 a.m. stating the sanctions announcement had been “delayed for a few hours,” according to a copy of the communications seen by The Wall Street Journal.
In a final White House email sent just after 10 p.m., officials said the sanctions had been delayed, and didn’t specify when they might go ahead.
It's unclear what exactly unfolded between say, 9 a.m. Wednesday morning and lunchtime, but it seems logical to assume that someone conveyed Iran's position to the administration and, upon learning that Rouhani (not to mention the Ayatollah) were about to blow a fuse, Obama simply called the whole thing off.
Needless to say, this will be trotted out endlessly as further evidence that America has become weak, that the President "leads from behind," and that the nuclear was indeed "historic" - a "historic" failure.
On that note, we close with two statements, one from The White House and one from Rouhani. Compare and contrast.
The White House: "We are considering various aspects related to additional designations, as well as evolving diplomatic work that is consistent with our national security interests, and as such we will not be announcing any additional designations today."
Rouhani: "We have never negotiated regarding our defense capabilities including our missile program and will not accept any restrictions in this regard."
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Like one of my Oklahoma native buds says; "Shoulda picked our own cotton"
That and when he hits a drive with a buncha topspin, rolling like mad says; "Run like ya' stole sumptin'"
Yeah....but even back then we couldn't find enough Americans to do the job. Would have made cotton too expensive compared to the overseas competit........oh.....wait.
yep, we are all slaves now.
Has anyone watched this yet? http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/
I'm not Jewish, but was offended for Jerry, when Obama had to throw that slur in.
Offended for Jerry? Fuck Jerry Seinfeld...another useless Hollywood whore.
the usa is so corrupt and ruthless they have no business telling anyone what to do.
You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! 25"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of robbery and self-indulgence.… [/matthew]
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? [/matthew]
Sheesh, after that flaming attack i have a feeling you dont like it here?
you hang out at zh but hate dissent?
You are putting words in my mouth. I never said anything except I have this feeling you are a bit unhappy with the way things are going?
I mean, tell us how you really feel.
:) The prophets were sent to tell us, but we don't listen.
Hey buzz, don't skip Matt 27:52 where the zombies climb out of their graves and invade Jerusalem. One of the funnier folk tales from that book. (what? It really happened? there's video? cool.)
His backbone, Valerie Jarrett, must be out of touch for the Christian holidays , or scattering out to job hunt with the rest of the Titanic crew.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3139679/Meet-Shabani-handsome-go...
that was funny. we just need WB7 to photshop Oblamo's face
Gossip has it they voted him "the most admired gorilla."
That's odd.
All of which goes to prove that:
- The Alan Alda thing never did and never will catch on, no matter how feminized the male public becomes.
- Women are as 'primative' as men when it comes the subconscious manner in which we choose mates.
- Whilst banging, do it like you mean it - if you want to keep her around...
Leading from the Back Door: The Story of Obama's Legacy...
" How to Destroy a Middle Class: It's as E-Z as 1-2-3! "
~ Hussein Soweto, 2017
Barry is too much of an attention whore to bother caring about our country - Barry behaves like a attention starved child - oh wait, mommy was a white whore and daddy was a black muslim - and Barry was brought up in Asia.
Here's Barry sucking Jerry Seinfeld's cock for a few minutes on Crackle (Sony).
http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/president-barack-obama-just-tell...
What a fucking loser. Fuck you Jerry for letting this media pig Barry on your show.
I used to watch some episodes of that show. Won't anymore. Fuck jewboy jerry
I "believe" the only actor in the old Seinfeld series who was not actually jewish was Kramer.
The rest were all jewish. Correct me if I am wrong on that.
Depends on whos telling the story.
Elie Wiesels tattoo
RIPS
Julia Louis-Dreyfus isn't jewish.
Dreyfus claims not to be jewish and her jewish father and non jewish mother divorced when she was very young. So I think you can say she is not jewish, but she definently came from rich jewish stock. She and her half sister both gained solid inroads into the acting business.
From another site:
You see, we always thought you were Jewish. After all, your father is Jewish billionaire Gerard Louis-Dreyfus. You are even related to the unfairly scapegoated Jew Alfred Dreyfus of the Dreyfus Affair.
I wouldn't use Mike Pompeo for any quotes.
This clowns lack of any leadership abilities is breathtaking.
I believe that was the plan all along, but can you really imagine a McCain presidency?
He does have his way of creating a strawman and then burning it down...along with all the people & buildings in the immediate vicinity doesn't he?
Ya know, a hyperactive pyromaniac like him should prolly be placed on a No-Fly list and not be allowed possession of firearms ;-)
Winning
only America and it's sunni friends can have weapons.. How USA is so full of shit.
it was always a great idea for Iran to build hundreds of thousands of missiles and aim them at Israel... mutually assured destruction
He was probably too busy folding for Reggie for the New Year to be dealing with the Iranians.
I think in Hawaii it's that Bobby Titcomb dude that get's barry's affection
"I was against Iranian sanctions, before I was for them!" - O'Tard
At least he didn't reference a red line.
Why does importing muslim terrorists into the US NOT constitute a security problem for the US but Iran testing missiles like the ones the USalready has does constitute a security problem for the US?
Either Obama is deliberately trying to destroy this country, or he is generally destructive to everything by virtue of mental unstability caused by his dysfunctional upbringing. You would be screwed up too if your mother posed in S&M porn mags to make a buck for the communitst party and would hump anyone that took her and brood to the gutters of a 3rd world country.
The best part of 2016 is when this psycho exits the White House.
I don't think he plans on leaving.
I'm still expecting a "crisis" in 2016 that means dear leader must soldier on "just for a while". Face it he's a little tin horn wanna be
As much as I despise Peace Prize, I would be glad t see a coup if it meamt no Pres. Hellary
Unfortunately, the impostors term ends January 20, 2017 not in 2016.
I wouldn't feel any loyalty to the country if I was not born here.
Oh, wait...
Fair enough. At least we'll know that scum will be replaced in 2016.
Wow jm, that adds so much class to the conversation. You sure is smart. How do you know she'd hump anyone?
By "class" you mean gloss over the truth about this guy's screwed up family. Avoiding these unpleasantries is what got this psycho in the White House in the first place.
I will defer to your views on her sexual promiscuity, but it is a matter of fact that she posed in S&M porn magazine. You can even google them should you wish to be nauseated. and she did end up with a communist subversive, then an alcoholic Kenyan who disavowed the lot of them, then an indonesian who enrolled him in a madrassa.
For once, maybe we can look unblinking at the unsavory truth, ignore our wounded sensibilities, and accept that we have a monster in the White House. and it is our fault because God forbid we offend someone.
Monster? No doubt about it. What else could kill and destroy at will with no personal consequences. And S&M porn? Well, I suppose single Mothers will do almost anything to keep food on the table. I wouldn't judge that too harshly.
My moral judgements about this woman are irrelevant. But the combination of her unsavory life choices, political radicalism, and global search for fulfillment impact her son, our president. Most won't vote for Rubio because he can't even balance his check book.
I guarantee that Obama is not what the average voter bargained for in the White House selection.
At least the loser didnt come out and draw a red line in his panties......
THAT was embarrassing!
The author and apparent supporters of a
bombastic and jingoist foreign policy are evident today.
Doubtless Obama has underhanded and craven reasons for whatever his policies.
But that doesn't mean the better policy would be a more militaristic one,
nor is it sensible to impute Obama isn't "tough" enough or militaristic enough,
as though his invasions, bombings, confrontations, assassinations, etc.
weren't already way too much.
Obama is destructive. Like it or not, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are historically key allies in the region. Obama is doing his best to hamstring the Egyptian economy because the Sisi regime put a stop to the growing violence and anarchy that the Muslim Brotherhood unleashed. Apparently, in Obama's eyes it is fine to unleash murder and rewrite the constitution to make an islamic state, but it is not OK to preserve the rights embodied in a constituton and instate law and order instead of riots and murder.
In turn, like it or not, Saudi Arabia is a key ally in the region. When every waffling statement of imposing sanctions on Iran is followed in days by a reservals of said statement, they is growing insecurity that the United States is not to be trusted and cannot establish anything resembling conherent policy.
I could go on about Obama's epic missteps for hours. At best our closest allies stand in bewildered by his incompentence. Our other allies ignore him. Our enemies laugh or exploit him... and know that the next president, good or bad, will be far more capable and engaged in protecting American interests.
"like it or not, Saudi Arabia is a key ally in the region"
Actually Saudi Arabia is a key destabilizer in the region, the others being Israel and Turkey. Saudi Arabia is run by a fanatic and despotic crime family; it funds terrorists; it crucifies regime critics.... But since destabilization of the world is the AngloZioNazi game plan ('AZN' for short) then certainly Saudi Arabia is a key ally of THEIRS, but not for the rest of us.
That Saudi Arabia is a cesspool is obvious but not the issue. The issue is that Obama literally cannot adhere to a coherent policy by design or because of inner frailty. He bows and kisses the ring, then he waffles all over their biggest threat.
I'm also concerned that his top brass appointees in the military share the same destructive tendencies. The next pres will have to clean house and have a lot of repair work to do.