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Guest Post: The Other Side Of Sanctions
Submitted by Felix Imonti of OilPrice.com,
Iran has been pushed into a corner and is fighting for its life. The safest weapon in its arsenal is an economic strategy; and it is the one point where the United States is vulnerable.
There is no doubt about it. Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act that was signed into law by President Obama on December 31, 2011 is having the intended effect upon Iran.
Unlike previous sanctions, Section 1245 attacks the foundation of the Iranian economy. The provisions of the law seek to stop the sale of crude oil and to block transactions between the Iranian central bank and the rest of the world. About fifty percent of the national budget is funded from the sale of exported crude oil that provides eighty percent of the foreign exchange. "Crude (oil) sales are a trap which we inherited from the years before the (1979 Islamic) Revolution," Khamenei told a gathering of researchers and scientists at the end of July.
An immediate consequence of the legislation has been the plunge in the exchange rate of the Iranian Rial that has lost half its value against the U.S. dollar. A combination of devalued currency and a break down in international bank transfers has created shortages of imported products, including basic food grains. The result is seen in an official inflation rate of 25 percent and an unemployment rate of 12.3 percent.
Before the implementation of the sanctions, Iranian oil exports were the second largest in OPEC at 2.2 million barrels per day. Today, the current level is around 1.1 million barrels, but that does not take into account the oil leakage through the sanction barriers. A friendly government in Baghdad makes Iraq one of the easier routes to the world market. Shipments of gold bullion through Turkey to Iran indicate that the Iranians are selling to someone.
After nearly thirty years of dealing with American sanctions, the Iranians have developed methods of evading some of the restrictions, but the current application goes far beyond anything faced earlier. The National Iranian Oil Company has been forced to relinquish its monopoly of sales and authorized private traders to market the crude. The Oil Products Exporters Union expects to manage a fifth of exports and claims to have completed arrangements with refiners in Europe.
In spite of the evasive measures that are being employed, The Iranian treasury is still losing about thirty billion dollars per annum, a decline from seventy-two billion in 2011. Beyond that, reduced exports are causing a problem of what to do with the surplus. On shore facilities have been filled. Seven million barrels are being held at Sidi Kerir in Egypt.
That leaves the tankers as the only other storage choice. Half the Iran tanker fleet of forty-seven ships is already sitting at anchor with tanks full and no place to go.
The less attractive possibility is for the National Iranian Oil Company to continue shutting down wells. Already, production has declined from 3.5 to 3.3 million barrels per day.
Once they are shut down and the pressurizing of the aging neglected wells stopped, salt water seepage will make it costly and difficult to reactivate them. When they are reopened, production is likely to be reduced. This is the long term damage that the sanctions will have upon the economy.
How long can they endure the losses? That is the question that the Ayatollah has to be asking.
So far, there are no signs that people are starving from food shortages, and there is no indication that people are taking their grievances into the streets. Regardless, Tehran cannot ignore the long term damage to the economy and the potential for social disorder.
Right now, the bombs are not falling. Sooner or later, though, the risk of war must be resolved. They cannot ignore that Section 1245 is a declaration of war; and must be treated accordingly. The Ayatollah has said, “Threat for threat.”
Ayatollah Khamenei compares the present situation of Iran to Mohammed and his early followers who were besieged for three years in the desert of Saudi Arabia. When there seemed to be no hope, they struck the surrounding superior army and defeated it at Badr and Kheybar.
He sees Iran is also surrounded by an enemy. They are being confronted by two carrier battle groups with a formidable destructive capacity that Iran cannot hope to stop or to match; the repeated threats from politicians in the United States and Israel to attack Iranian nuclear facilities; the newest sanctions that are slowly strangling the economy; and Khamenei believes that it is all for the sole purpose of regime change.
That raises the question. How does a minor military power contend with the forces available to the United States? The leaders in Tehran talk about closing the Straits of Hormuz and developing new missiles. It is all bravado that Khamenei hopes will calm anxieties at home and frighten potential aggressors.
Over the three decades of the Islamic Republic, the Iranians have been careful about pushing Washington to the point that it would retaliate militarily. The Ayatollah is not going to provoke the U.S. to destroy the theocratic regime and his political career.
“….to defend ourselves we will attack on the same level as the enemies attack us," Khamenei said on television in March. Section 1245 is economic warfare. That is most likely to be the battlefield that Khamenei will choose and it fits perfectly into the strategies employed over the centuries by the persecuted Shia minority
Where is the United States vulnerable economically? It is the draconian character of the sanctions.
At the end of June, Washington did what was expected. All twenty of Iran’s regular buyers were granted six month wavers that will push the next decision beyond the November election. To have found any of the twenty governments to be in violation of the sanction restrictions would have compelled Washington to deny access to the U.S. financial system. That would have Sparked an economic war with countries taking sides in support or in opposition to the United States.
It is no secret that many governments object to the sanctions and are willing to deal outside of normal channels for a reduced price. If the Iranians should use the new private traders to dump a few million barrels of oil onto the market at a sharply discounted price, they just might encourage one of these governments to openly defy the United States for a bargain. Should the United States imposes restrictions upon the offender, that could trigger an unwanted trade war, while ignoring the challenge would render the sanctions meaningless and invite everyone else to go bargain hunting.
As a persecuted minority, the Shia have learned that the weaker in a conflict must employ cunning rather than muscle. The philosophy is the core principle of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that focuses upon the use of asymmetric warfare. Employing economic tactics is just another form of the asymmetric warfare.
It is the inherent weakness of the alliance that is Iran’s strength. The unwillingness of Washington to pressure supposed allies and the simple fact that there are buyers willing to defy the sanctions secretly reveals the cracks in the system. If the Iranians can break through the weak point in the American siege, they will be able to repeat without firing a shot the triumph of Badr and Kheybar
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So sick of Israel and their war machine.
+1.5 Quadrillion for that one......
Honest question: Does Israel allow inspection of its nuclear program by the IAEA?
Do the concepts of self determinism, private property, freedom and liberty really have any meaning when they only apply to me, but not to you?
Ha, ha! You cannot inspect that which doesn't exist!
By all "offical" accounts Israel doesn't have nukes! If you say they do (and you happen to live there while you say so) you end up being placed in prison (Mordechai Vanunu).
By all "offical" accounts Iran doesn't have nukes, either.
So, what is the IAEA's "official" stance on Israel?
They get another passover waiver?
it's almost as if none of this makes any sense
Bomb Israel. That makes sense
Well, theoretically to be fair of tit for tat bombing - if you do - target Dimona or whereever their supposed nuclear projects are - not all of Israel.
my human nature at seeing the bully get its ass kicked is at an all time high....
lol mitt gave the green light already to bomb iran so thats how that will go.
the mittens campaign is but a water test to see the stomach of the people for war and accelerated fleecing
how vulnerable are the "owners"? don't know about them, but their henchmen (bankers, lawyers, indian chiefs) are very vulnerable
The west see Israel's hundreds of nuclear weapons as allied nukes, ready to be used for western interests. Thus they are considered weapons of peace. Any Iranian nuclear weapon would confirm a measure of invasion security for Iran, thus NATO would find it hard to invade and conquer Iran, so the west labels any Iranian nuclear weapon a weapon of agressive war.
That is the difference. Israeli nukes good, Iranian nukes bad.
Indeed, we are all sick of the Israeli war machine, which is financied in large part with American tax dollars.
Iran is one of the last nations in the Middle East that is independent of NATO and Israel, this alone makes them a prime target, as NATO, Israel and the USA all demand alligance to the Neo-Liberal globalized world power exercised out of Washington DC.
Iran is not going to attack anyone, and they all know it. They orgainized the Iraq invasion of Iran in hopes of an easy victory using Iraq as the proxy. It didn't work, in spite of the Wests sanction and aid in carrying oput chemical warfare against Iranian infantry and a missile campaign, again aided by US targeting data, against Iranian cities.
Iran is a thorn in the side of Israel as they support oppostion groups to Israeli expansion, such as the wars to conquer southern Lebanon.
SO sure, Israel wants Iran torn apart like Iraq, it is in their interest to see Iran ripped up and engaged in ethnic civil conflict. Iraq is the model, split now between three or more factions and basically powerless. Iran will not be so simple to dismember. Iran has some amount of Chinese and Russian support, as these two countries see a need to stop NATO expansion into the entire Middle East. China and Russia may be very lukewarm in their support for Iran, but they also have had enough of USA expansion into the Middle East and Central Asia. The Syrian conflict is showing that Russia and China have decided to cease surrendering to NATO expansion. I imagine Russia and China would react much more strongly in support of Iran than they have for Syria. It is all a matter of self interest. Russia and China are not at all ready to let the USA own Iran as a puppet NATO base. Nope, I think they are ready to draw the line firmly in the sand when it comes to NATO conquest of Iran.
Well Iran was going to set up a oil exchange that did not use dollars to settle transactions, This was supposed to be happening fairly soon. The threat to The Ben Bernank's fiat The JP Morgue and The Goldman Sack tissue paper is huge. This is the real Iranian threat.
Agreed.
Somebody should tell them if they suffer that much fear, bombing the neighbours doesn't cure the fear - a psychiatrist does.
How come people want to let politicians off the hook all the time. To me it seems like we blame everyone, but the people who actually make the decisions. It's not the lobbyist screwing up it's the politicians. It's you're politicians who are doing these things.
Politicians? Since when do puppets decide anything?
If they want to retain power, they do exactly what they're told. Otherwise, they are cast aside for someone who will (with one exception of one man they cannot reach).
Israel isn't what it seems. It's a fake country created by a clandestine group to use as a proxy in geopolitics. Remember, we need to spend more money invading sovereign nations and liberating their civilians to death. These are really all we need to ask a potential Presidential candidate:
1.) What is your stance on the Federal Reserve and fractional reserve lending?
2.) What is your stance on Zionism?
Support for either indicates ignorance or complicity, either of which are unacceptable for a post of this level of authority. Typically you can figure out the rest of their platform based on the answers to these two questions.
but...but...but... they're all TERRORISTS!!!
The Iranians have the ultimate card to play, several rockets into the Saudi oil terminals and it's over.
Not likely. This would draw a response from the West (uniting all of the oil consuming nations) that would be the end of the regime, one way or another.
A better card to play would be selling oil to China far below market.
Let China wield her financial 'weapons' against the West if retaliated against.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they are selling oil to China at a big discount to mrkt bid.
As an interested observer who is not a big fan of the Iranian gov't, I have to conclude they are doing what they "have to do". After all they are protecting their national sovereignty and are and have been planning ahead. I'm not sure game our politicians are playing the same game, they seem naive to me, but it appears to me that they're in over their heads.
I think the best strategic move Iran can make is the "rope a dope" one, they'll exhaust the US and NATO into the ground.
You know they are selling oil through China. Iran just needs to avoid any LBJ/Democrat Party Gulf of Tonkins because Vietnam was LBJ/JFKs war.
How does Iran "avoid" an Israeli submarine putting a torpedo into an American warship?
The WHOLE WORLD would stop in it's tracks without Saudi oil. The global depression would be so severe we would sue for peace.
BTW, Iran isn't Iraq, Iran has 70 million people not 25 in Iraq
.
Destruction of terminal facilities and oil transport infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE would fuck the global economy hard. It wouldn't be a sucker punch, it would be a baseball bat pummeling to the head followed by steel-toed boot kicks to the testicles of the supine body. Think of it as the Iranian regime's "Samson Option".
As you see from my comments I totally agree with you. What's really strange is back in the first war on Iraq we role played U.S./U.N. against Saddam I was chosen to play Saddam. When the aircraft carriers moved in I launched a total war on Saudi oil facilities and the game was over. People freaked saying that isn't the game! You were supposed to plan against US! I said I did! Within weeks the world was in chaos and there was fighting within states over who deserved oil. Game changed overnight.
Sanction means lose money, lose job and pay more at the gas station. http://www.freefdawatchlist.com/2012/08/directionless-stock-market-now-ready.html
Our Ferret learned something once.
It kept dumping poo into a corner of the living room. We sprayed it with anti ferret scent. At first it recoiled at the spot and we smiled and told each other that is that.
Until it turned around like a Semi Trailer (After smelling the boundaries...) and backed in to take the dump.
Yea, I wanted to make dinner out of that scrany thing.
HungrySeagull
Ferrets shit in corners. You own one and didn't know that?
When the fuck has Boundary worked without positive and negative reinforcement?
Just to let you know, you can teach a Cat to use the toilet.
Ferrets have too much will for that trick.
How do you teach the cat not to toss his cigar butts in the toilet?
a ferret? How did you get roped into that? I can't even cope with a mother in law!
It IS his mother-in-law --- he calls her the "ferret".
Employing economic tactics is just another form of the asymmetric warfare.
Yeah, it's wild, right? The US being the "big guy" still has to stoop to economic tactics because we blew our military wad over the past decade. We probably couldn't hold Grenada at this point.
Oh...wait...you meant asymmetric warfare on the part of the Iranians....
Could always declare war on Canada again.
United we stand, divided we fall, fellow North American...
...or France: They'll just surrender.
sooner or later the u.s. is going to have to let germany have a real army with nuclear weapons again.
france is going to be pissed about it, but---there's nothing you can do to stop the uber-menschen.
the germans are just that good. I think they'd be much more useful this time around in helping the west achieve global domination as a united front.
no gas chambers this time though, ok?
CA and USA are both corporations under the same belt duh.
Many powerful countries are opposed to the sanctions, including Russia and China.
These two countries also want the price of gold (currently being held down by the US) to rise.
To the point that, just like circumventing the US in trading oil, China wants to open up its own PM market.
Why would China want the price of gold to rise? It's a buyer, not a seller.
They're very happy to pick up tonnes of physical at discounted prices... once they've spent most of their USD reserves on physical assets (including gold, silver, farmland, mines, etc, etc) then they'll want the price to rise.
I expect the rigging to continue for a few years yet. No one in a position to do anything about it, wants it any other way.
They have been buying gold. They can't buy both. Can they buy more of the "physical assets", you refer to, with their TONNES of gold worth $1600/oz, or $5000/oz ?
Plus, with all the fiscal IRRESPONSIBILITY, and the EU zone breaking up, at least to some degree, the world will return to some level of gold standard. All the sovereigns will want gold higher to make their paper worth more.
JMO
boogerbently:"They have been buying gold. They can't buy both."
When I go to Walmart I can buy more than one thing at a time. (Although, I try to keep my purchase count below twelve, so I can fit in the express lane.) Nearly everything there is from China, so I know they can sell more than one thing at once. What hindereth the Chinese from buying both? Are the Chinese printing presses not as efficient as the ones we have in America?
I believe they intend to buy both. First, more gold, then, after the gold rises, they use IT to buy more assets.
The more the gold rises, the less they need to print.
The more gold rises, the more they CAN print.
demmurage, bitchez!
No dem, priv ships. Cant let that go!
Selling them porn and MBS for Oil would have broken them in milliseconds, but alas...
I disagree the presumption of the author that Iran is fighting for its life due to sanctions imposed by the US. Iran has no problem selling its oil to China and India.
I believe that these sanctions will backfire on the US and the FED.
Want a joke?: They even sell oil to Turkey- albeit a reduced quantity.
Sanctions are bullshit. Only thing to understand about that part of the world is these muthafuckas been killing each other for thousands of years and will continue to do so.... only taking an ongoing lunch break to kill foreign invaders. We've been pushing the same limp string for at least 60 years. Let the best man win and keep the fuck out of the USA.
In history a nation declared war on an other nation. Nowadays a nation imposes sanctions on an other nation. The meaning is absolutely the same.
And if you keep the sanctions going you end up with a shooting war too.
The ONLY reason why the US hasn't been killing people for thousands of years is because it hasn't been around that long. Since inception it's been on a continual tear though. Wipe out all those nasty fuckers over there and the US will then have a clear path to the record. Go Team USA!
Oh, and maybe the US should keep the fuck out of everyone else's land? (esp those lands where the Westerners imposed fictitious statehood)
They don't even have to go "there". They just provide weapons to incite civil war. It's really that easy. They've done it all across the globe. The political rationale is irrelevant. It's profitable.
Wow, the stupid, it burns!
.
That's why the whole idea of a united Europe is a pipe dream. I mean, it's only been a little over a decade since they went to the Euro and they're already at each other's throats. How much longer before the shooting starts and drags them back into another thousand years of dark ages?
You were talking about Europe, weren't you?
Yeap. And watch for the breakup of the USA along similar lines. Picture 4 or 5 regions with provisional military governments banging heads with each other.
It's gonna happen, if somebody doesn't stop kicking cans down roads and wasting the national wealth trying to control the rest of the world.
Sanctions....Bullshit....Nukular
http://www.examiner.com/article/western-meddling-africa-and-the-middle-east
War can cover a lot of sins and more importantly create some very nice profits of the MIC......then of course there is the debt it creates for the most productive members of our economy........yes.....I think Iran must be sternly dealt with...........after it all shakes out and a few billion casualties then we can reset and repeat........evil must exist......now back to the Olympics and badmitton
Wars are great for killing internal dissent. That, however, is just secondary, as the PRIMARY reason for war is ALWAYS pursuit of resources.
It's a death-lock anyways, one country MASSIVELY dependent on consuming a non-renewable resource, the other MASSIVELY dependent on the sale of a non-renewable resource. A fight FOR death.
'Peak Oil' is a fraud.
The dollar is 'backed' by oil.
The whole 'global warming' , 'carbon credit' thing is an attempt to base currencies on some other illusion.
Military power may destroy things, but it never produces things. Will the fleet be sent out in the hopes of forcing countries to finance US debt so we can live off foreign labor and goods ?
Its all an absurdity.
check this out....370 million fricking dollars
''The Pentagon announced today the award of a $370 million contract to the Royal Jordanian Air Academy, Amman, Jordan, for the training of Iraqi aviation technicians. This outsourcing contract provides for one year of training which will also include teaching the Iraqis to speak English… The contract was awarded a by the US Air Force.''
http://defense-update.com/20120807_iraqi_training.html
so that means 20% of that will actually be used for training and the rest will disappear into thin air (with"thin air" being a swiss bank account)
don't worry; dickTracy here has figured this out [Paste:> "...secretly reveals the cracks in the system." <:
imagine that!
this seems newsworthy [GATA}:>Treasury used ESF cash to insure money-market funds
Tommy James & Shondells - Hanky Panky (1966)_HQ - YouTubeAfter all, who really wants to support a clown like Obama? Most realize the fast approaching "nuke" thing is a blatant false flag... if the negative attack ads don't work, then Iran will be hit. So much for our core American values with Capt. Barry at the helm... I wonder if he is consulting with Cheney?
What makes one think that the oil industry will be immune to 'bailout everyone'-Barry
Yes, he is consulting the Cheney family. Not Dick Cheney, but Elisabeth.
Blatanly false means nothing to these psychopaths.
Saddam's WMDs.
Gulf of Tonklin.
USS Liberty.
Pearl Harbor.
and on and on and on...
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/29/romney-promises-to-back-an-israeli...
I can't help but shake my head at the comments from the O'bomb-a shills. Idiots. We've been involved in three new wars in the last four years, and no matter if Romoney or O'bomb-a wins in November, we WILL be involved in another one soon.
Am I the only one here who has to choke back a tear when looking at an American flag?
If anyone wants a sneak peek at the plan one might take a look at a 2009 analysis paper (Which path to Persia) from the peaceloving folks over at the Brookings Institute. Pretty much lays it out in all it's glorious deseption. Here is a little snippet... http://landdestroyer.blogspot.no/2011/02/brookings-which-path-to-persia....
woops, wrong link, but it does the trick and there is links to the pdf. if you want to read 150 something pages of think-tank crazy babble.
Didn't Zbigniew* Brzezinski lay it all out in The Grand Chessboard?*
* Ha, ha! Spell-check wants to change this to "Ignitible!"
Or, was it back in 1933 when Chevron made its inroads to Saudi Oil?
Or was it from back in the 1840s with Manifest Destiny?
From Michael Ruppert's [old] FTW web site (http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/zbig.html [from 2001]):
Syria is today's Vietnam. China is in the shadows as pertains to "public" commentary. It is Russia that's getting most of the [negative] press today. Oh, and speaking of the "press," from http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=28031:
The CIA owns everyone of any significance in the major media."
- Former C.I.A. Director William Colby
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, CIA Director (first staff meeting, 1981)
[NOTE: William Casey was appointed by Ronald Reagan]
Ha ha. Ignitible, i'm sure he's combustible and he will burn some day. He pretty much looks like Freddy Krueger today, after that he will look just like Freddy Krueger.
One can only hope.
I like to use his book as a great big STFU for any idiot who worships any strain of political ideology.
I'll say, "Look, you can believe your own delusions about the designs of state power, or read this book from one of it's premier architects over the last forty+ years. Then get back with me."
Brzezinski, who I know from back when - Columbia U., before he became Carter's NSA - is the consummate Realist; also his IQ is yours (room temperature) X 10. As such, he has lately and repeatedly warned that an Isramerican war with Iran will be a C_A_T_A_S_T_R_O_P_H_E. What part of the word CATASTROPHE don't you understand?
China is in the shadows as pertains to "public" commentary.
You must not follow news in Asia.
You fuck with our oil and we'll fuck with yours.
The West is interfering in MENA so China retaliates by staking its claim to oil/gas reserves in the South China Sea - first they violate the sovereignty of Vietnam, then the Philippines, and now Japan. You see? Why didn't they start with Japan? This is escalation and is a direct attack on US credibility in Asia.
Inaction from the West is emboldening the Chinese.
[ NOTE: ... me thinks he was appointed by Ike, to reinstall Mafia on Sicily :-P Mission accomplished ... ]
For the installation of global Mafia all over the Europe after 35 yrs. he used the best man ever - he cuddled Woytila about 40 times :-P
Zbigniew was burning the South America b4 Reagan .
I for one am tired of the constant war machine and the U.S. running around the globe trying to enforce our will upon everybody. What sickens me even more is that people don't even care. They get caught up in the gay marriage bullshit or any other topic de jour , while we destroy and maim civilizations around the globe.
oligarkian triumphantalism.....more or less
http://extragoodshit.phlap.net/2012/02/think-your-job-sucks-try-these/ge...
we need to get in line
"while we destroy and maim civilizations around the globe."
Just wait till you see what's coming here [US]! Mass incarceration, already the highest in the world, is going to really jump (but if it can't be afforded by the very people who are being incarcerated then expect TPTB to skip directly to how they do it elsewhere- dropping bombs [oh those brave military people!]).
My old captain said it best
'we cut them in half with a machine gun and give them a band aid'
I last saw him heading up the nong river....
privately run for-profit prison 'corporations'.....very disturbing.
Weapons of mass distraction, friend.
Once they are shut down and the pressurizing of the aging neglected wells stopped, salt water seepage will make it costly and difficult to reactivate them
I don't think so. Shutting them in will cause them to build pressure and reduce salt water inflow.
If the Iranians should use the new private traders to dump a few million barrels of oil onto the market at a sharply discounted price,
The world wide price of crude would decline with more supply (but it would take a few million more barrels per day): Bullish for the Bamster.
Breaking! Syrian and Jordanian heavy armor invoved in a battle. Verified by 3 different sources including Reuters, RT and Aljazeera.
Can't be good.
Unless you're a US defense contractor, then bullish!
Giulliani's driver has some advantages, 2 :-P
Or the spook who's gonna get a fat bonus check this year.
There ya go
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/10/us-syria-crisis-jordan-idUSBRE...
we need more info.
Is the carrier group of decrepit rusting hulks a blockage, or is it not.
Are Chinese tankers being allowed to pass though Straits of Hormuz?
If so, what happens when the 6 months are up?
If the internal destabilization program hasn't workedwithin 6 months then the sanctions will be extended. That's the program: should be familiar with it by now (Iraq - started that one in the early 90s, which just pre-dated the expiration of a 75 year-old oil lease with the British signed back in 1919 [1919 + 75 = 1994])
What did they think? That Iran wouldn't just ignore the US and go about their business?
Western interventionism is by far the most irrational thing I've ever seen. These are nations that proclaim to be about Freedom and Peace, but never seem to live up to their rhetoeric.
The 6 months are up.
No matter how this turns out, it will turn out badly.
U.N. Agency Announces Partnership With Iranian Terror Group
Keep a watchful eye on the amount of double speak. The above story is another layer of the onion.
[http://www.dowjone...mal-officials.html]
"India gets about three-fourths of the crude it requires through imports, and Iran is its second-largest supplier after Saudi Arabia. The refiners have been making payments to Iran for oil supplies through Turkey's Halkbank since July [2011], after India's central bank in December 2010 disbanded a settlement mechanism that the U.S. said could be used by Tehran to finance its alleged nuclear weapons program."
[http://en.wikipedi...s_Table_1H2011.gif]
India imports about 9-10 m barrels a month from Iran ~ $1B worth
[http://www.zerohed...turkey-april-alone]
Iran Gold Imports Surge - $1.2 Billion USD Of Precious Metals From Turkey in April Alone
Also interesting....
[http://www.nytimes...ont-hurt-iran.html]
“We have as much HARD currency as we need and the country will manage well,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said, “even if we don’t sell a single barrel of oil for two or three years.”
[http://en.wikipedi...ing_balance_sheets]
In January 2012, the head of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce reported that Iran had 907 tons of gold, purchased at an average of $600 per ounce and worth $54 billion at today's price.[68][69] The CBI governor however reports only 500 tons (i.e. above ground gold reserves).[70] The discrepancy is unexplained but the 907 tons could (mistakenly) include below ground gold reserves (320 metric tons as of 2012) and possibly the Iranian Crown Jewels or the gold in Iranian private hands (~100 tons in coins, jewelry or bullion).
Taken at face value, 900 tons equals 28.8 million ounces of gold.
28.8 million ounces of gold at $PoG 1,600 equals $46 billion.
[http://en.wikipedi...istry_of_Petroleum_(Iran)]
Iran's annual oil revenues reached $100 billion in 2011.
Iran claims they have enough "hard currency" to offset about $200-$300 in lost oil revenues.
[http://www.tehrant...s-907-tons-of-gold]
$120 billion in forex reserves. Leaving 28.8 million ounces to fill the $80-$180 billion dollar gap, or alternatively, a $PoG of ~2,700 to 6,250.
"Where is the United States vulnerable economically?"
The United States depends, for its very existence, on crude imports, the very commodity it is preventing Iran from trading. If I were Iran, and I wanted to weaken my enemies, I would attack their oil production, refining, and transport capabilities. I would use small infiltration teams to break their pipelines and destroy their refineries. I would look to develop malicious computer software that could disable their refineries and pipelines, and I would keep ramping up the global price of oil in USD by threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz. I would do all the things that Iran is most likely doing right now. Iran is not so helpless, and the U.S. not so omnipotent as this article would suggest.
If I were Iran, and I wanted to weaken my enemies, I would attack their oil production, refining, and transport capabilities.
LOL, good thing you're not the brains behind Iran's regime.
It appears the thrust of this article is completely lost on you.
"..the Shia have learned that the weaker in a conflict must employ cunning rather than muscle. The philosophy is the core principle of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that focuses upon the use of asymmetric warfare. Employing economic tactics is just another form of the asymmetric warfare."
If Iran were to use terror as a tactic, that would play right into the US's hand and would elicit military action... and with popular support. The US is waiting, with its carriers, for any excuse to launch an invasion of Iran... albeit after elections.
The strategy posed by the author makes sense. Dump cheap oil on the market [for gold]. This in and of itself would undermine the US economy.
Iran won't directly antagonize the US without Russian/Chinese backing. This is why they are throwing support at Syria. Make no mistakes, the Iranians want Syria to be the focus of attention for as long as possible.
A#1 ZOGstooge Romney is in trouble; too many states have crossed the ethno-Socialist tipping pont. That means Israel will attack Iran well before the election, in order to get rid of Obama by spiking and keeping gas price spiked through November. Any day now.
No, Israel would not do this without Western support. Israel is not known for pre-emptive strikes with the exception being the Suez Crisis in which Israel had the support of Britain and France. Most other conflicts were reactions to aggression.
Israel would much rather have the US do their bidding.
To suggest that Israel would attack Iran to guarantee an Administration in favor of invading Iran is totally circular logic.
Israel probably doesn't have the capability to pull off an attack on their own.
It would take a very long-range strike and, given the crash fortification effort that's going on at Iran's key nuclear sites, they frankly don't have the conventional weaponry to effective take down the sites.
Hell oil right now in Canada is at $5.36 a gallon. And Iran hasn't been attacked yet...
One could get it on a reserve at between 1.10-1.15 a litre the last few months...holy shit does that equate to 5.00/gallon gas?
Line ups gallore where its cheap(er), and I have heard conversations over the pumps between farmers and labourers about the price of gas at the gas pump complaining about the price when it was about 1.30/liter, say 2 months ago.
To your point if it goes much above 1.30 a liter, or 5.50 a gallon in the states you'll get a lot of bellyaching and complaining.
Right now it's 1.42 a liter... 1.42$X3.78L = $5.37/GAL...
The last time I saw it that high was in 2008... when oil was at 150$ a barel... we're being screwed... oil is much lower than that now... that means the SOB government has put way more taxes on oil...
Sanctions. Pffftttt.
What they need is to get this guy.
http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/880/202110-strangelov.jpg
They hate us for our precious body fluids.
I'm saving my precious body fluids in mason jars. My basement has a shelf that looks like a wall of gold.
PETRODOLLARS... Saddam Hussein was killed because of it, same is happening with the Euro.
(Pepe Escobar is also a good read on this)
PETRODOLLAR WARFARE AND COLLAPSE OF U.S.
DOLLAR IMPERIALISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY
BY CHARLES H. COPPES, AUTHOR OF AMERICA’S FINANCIAL RECKONING DAY
http://www.projectshiningcity.org/editorial5.php
PETRODOLLARS...
Yes. Ironically, the US may be instigating an end to dollar hegemony.
See my post from above. It would seem India is swapping their gold for oil via Turkish Halkbank. India has seen a large trade deficit and has been selling dollar reserves to support the Rupee. In this context, it would seem that dollars, at least to the Indians, have diminishing utility when compared to gold's increasing utility.
Thanks for cutting Iran off of SWIFT. Now these countries that rely on cheap Iranian oil will have no choice but to pay for their oil in gold.
As an addendum, India's $22B golden windfall:
http://news.yahoo.com/india-temple-gold-jewels-worth-22-billion-074008752.html
This is the answer to BigJims question, they have bought gold, now they want the value to go up, now.
@booger, not sure I agree. Which country holds the most gold and therefore benefits the most from a revaluation of gold? Which country holds the most US dollar reserves and therefore would suffer the most from a devaluation of the dollar against gold? Therein lies your answer.
China needs to buy much more gold than it has now.
Gas and oil are expensive here in the West, Iran has it stored up to capacity and is lowering production because they need more avenues to sell it (get rid of it)...let me just think outside the box here for one minute...
There is no UN resolution that backs the US sanctions on Iran.
They US have concocted yet another allegation of "Weapons of Mass Destruction"
Hypocracy in US allows Israel to ACTUALLY own nuclear weapons, Israel refuses to sign the Nuclear Prolofieration treaty.
Sanctions significantly greater than Standard Chartered should be imposed on Israeli Banks and its The Israeli government.
Amazing how many comments this article has elicited. From a guy named Felix Imonti? Right. Let's see he's: 1. A Candian 2. A former "private equity" director. 3. An author of a book. Basically, the guy's a zero. But don't take my word, see the link:
http://oil.carboncapturereport.org/cgi-bin//profiler?key=felix_imonti&pt=2
Yeah. I'm hanging on to his every word.
Where is Jon Corzine?
To your first point whats the issue with Canada? What country do you come from? Canada has some faults but it is a fantastic country populated by good people. If the people of Canada ever wake up or are pushed into a corner there's no better bunch of people you want on your side.
Be careful what you wish for...
Picture the terror in the eyes of an invading army as they are overrun by hockey stick wielding Canucks. Doesn't 90% of the Canadian population live within 100 miles of the US Canada border
Congressman Ron Paul’s floor speech against Iran sanctions bill on August 1, 2012
http://www.hangthebankers.com/ron-paul-vs-the-criminal-sanctions-against...
If my memory serves me we also imposed strict sanctions on the Japanese in the late 1930's and I don't recall that working out well for us
Again, more double speak..
S. Arabia: We'll intercept any IAF aircraft en route to Iran
http://www.defence.pk/forums/arab-defence/201160-saudi-arabia-well-intercept-any-iaf-aircraft-en-route-iran.html
Krauthammer: Israelis will attack Iran if they think Obama will win re-election
Many have no idea how the diplomatic game is spun. Just remain inebriated to your local MSM news developments.
Iran has been pushed into a corner and is fighting for its life.
False, all Iran has to do to get UN sanctions lifted is drop it's program of developing nuclear weapons! Abide by the treaty THEY signed. Any opinion that starts sympathetic to the lunatics driving the people of Iran into the abyss is pure bulshit and one needs read no further.
So why not join the UN scumbag treaty? We all know the central planning special interest objective plan.
UN nuclear watchdog seeks to persuade Israel to join NPT
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-nuclear-watchdog-seeks-to-persuade-israel-to-join-npt-1.288518
Who is being played like a good taxpayer fiddle? Are you that blind?
It’s kind of like Iran telling the international community.. Israel has globalized all their Kosher food outsourcing to the Gaza Strip district.
/sarc
Perhaps every farmer who buys fertilizer should be accused of making bombs.
Enriched uranium has more than one use... base load power and medical isotopes just to name a couple.
Where does one find proof that Iran is developing nuclear weapons?
Doesn't North Korea have nuclear weapons? Between Iran and North Korea, which of the two seem more irrational?
Anyone that claims Iran is not trying to build nuclear weapons or does not have a nuclear weapons program is totally full of shit.
I agree, of course they are building nuclear weapons. And why not? Everyone else has them.
It's probably time for you to review some facts.
First, there is currently no proof that Iran is weaponizing uranium.
Second, recent history demonstrates that the Western Sphere of Influence is inclined to use "weapons of mass destruction" as a false flag impetus for invasion of Shia-controlled, oil rich nation states [Iraq].
Third, if nuclear proliferation were the primary concern, why haven't we invaded/bombed North Korea? North Korea is currently the only nuclear power that has openly threatened nuclear action against the Western Sphere of Influence.
Fourth, why are nuclear weapons developed? Clearly as a deterrant to outside aggressors. History shows that of the 5,000 nuclear warheads in the global inventory, only 2 were ever used [both by the US]. The chances of one being used today are infinitesimally small... usage would assure mutual destruction. Therefore we can conclude that nuclear weapons are developed as a deterrant and only used as a last resort option.
IF Iran is developing nuclear weapons, it is because they are being put in a position where they must in order to gain geopolitical leverage.
Our current attitude towards Iran is akin to robbing a store clerk for 30 years then arresting him for trying to buy a bullet-proof vest. How about we just stop robbing him?
However, given the FACTS and recent HISTORY, it appears this is nothing more than another attempt at overthrowing a Shia government for one that is amenable to the Western agenda.
So what?
Now go and sign you 1D10 tango form. V1. Make sure original ink on all three carbon copies.
That's a good lad.
boiltherich said:
How do they drop a program which doesn't exist?
They are in compliance with it and have even offered to submit to restrictions which go beyond what the NPT treaty requires. This is old news.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MH16Ak03.html
Agreed. Anyone sympathetic to the warmongering Israeli government and their neocon toadies in the US needs to pull their head out of their ass.
If there was no program, and there is, all they would have to do to be in compliance is allow the inspections of the sites they have been refusing access to, and as quick as that the sanctions are gone. They brought this on themselves and the ferocity of their refusals, the games they are playing, nobody with any sense believes they are innocent of building all the infrastructure to make nuclear weapons as well as the weapons themselves.
By the way, I agree Israel is no better, but this article is not about Israel, it is about the cost to Iran of non compliance. Though I also agree that Israel has an absolute right to exist, though I would like to see them inside the 1967 borders, and find a way to coexist with Palestine. That will never happen as long as Iran is pulling the strings of the terror organizations in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israel was called Palestine before... According to your own logic it should be Israel that needs to solve the problems with its neighbours first: you can't just rename a piece of the world and expect things to be fine... Get real!
I don't agree that Israel has the "right" to exist. Why? The bible clearly states that Jews were Egyptians. Being thrown out of one country and saying that your God gave you another one does not give you the "right" to take it, not in modern times.
I do believe that Iran has the right to have nuclear weapons. They are a sovereign state and can do what they want as long as it doesn't hurt other states. All that can happen is that peace will break out as the balance of power between Israel and Iran will be restored.
I don't get the obsession of Americans with Israel, seems to me that the USA (being a "Christian" country) has more in common with Muslims...
Christans: old testament + recognize Jesus as son of God.
Muslims: old testament + recognize Jesus as a prophet.
Jews: old testament + don't recognize Jesus at all.
boiltherich, still swallowing the official propaganda, said:
Can you provide evidence of this? It's something that neither US nor Israeli intelligence has been able to do.
http://antiwar.com/blog/2012/08/03/ehud-barak-admits-iran-has-defensive-...
Are you just missing the point or are you deliberately ignoring it? Iran is already in compliance with their NPT obligations. They are being sanctioned for an imaginary weapons program and compliance with treaty obligations.
The only ones playing games here are Israel and the United States. The whole situation could have been defused years ago if not for the United States government's deliberate sabotage and rejection of all diplomatic efforts.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ND11Ak02.html
No, it's about the cost to Iran of compliance.
It kind of makes one wonder why the US government rejected Iran's offer in April 2003 to end support for those organizations. Or at least it should make one wonder.
http://original.antiwar.com/porter/2012/04/27/understanding-irans-diplom...
"all Iran has to do to get UN sanctions lifted is drop it's program of developing nuclear weapons"
Somebody hasn't been paying attention...
Look at your ratings? It is amazing. We must be Hezbollahstan. There must be a lot of frustrated guys here who don't have the money or a date for a Friday night venting their frustrations with their own lives.
Iran has become the new utopia. Hey, Cuba has great beachfront.
Great article. C'mon people, the world runs on oil. Where there is oil, there are buyers. So China will step up to buy and we'll start a trade war? Hardly. The sanctions will be completely ignored. All that heavy iron floating in the gulf and it can't even fire a shot. LOL.
Fox News reports (in their most frightened and desperate voices) "Iran on the verge of having nuclear weapons...within months. No weeks, No days. No minutes!" They report this at least 10 times a week...for the past 15 years. They'll keep reporting it for the next 100 years or until the Neocons decide Iran is ripe for their plunder and invasion.
Go Persia! And may the Bankster's be doomed!!
.
T. Boone Pickens, the winded investor looks at Iran’s South Par investment for M&A.
http://www.pseez.ir/home-en.html
Nothing ever changes in ramping up taxpayer’s to support the broken banking system..
1988: US warship shoots down Iranian airliner
Video:
22 years later, no apology for IR655
"Tehran cannot ignore the long term damage to the economy and the potential for social disorder."
That doesn't make sense. The Iranian people are well aware of the players. The 2010-11 'protests' had US funding.
"How long can [Iran] endure the losses? That is the question that the Ayatollah has to be asking."
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. How long are OUR people expected to endure what follows? The Ayatollah has said, “Threat for threat.” KARMA, bitchez, as in BLOCKED STRAIT, or worse. What's Europe supposed to do when their lifeline is cut? Is the USGovt prepared to subsidize Europe, or simply let Europeans freeze? None of this makes sense. The writer ignores the Russian mutual defense pact. The Chinese likewise wait in the wings, yes? Is there some nutball out there who wants to instigate a new World War? Because that's what's gonna happen.
"The unwillingness of Washington to pressure supposed allies and the simple fact that there are buyers willing to defy the sanctions secretly reveals the cracks in the system."
The Iranian oil bourse was reportedly inaugurated February 17, 2008 and stopped accepting USDs on March 20, 2012.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_oil_bourse
More importantly, the alternative to bypass the SWIFT system -- which Iran was expelled from last March -- was supposedly implemented a couple months ago:
http://www.irdiplomacy.ir/en/page/1901977/Iran+designs+alternative+system+for+SWIFT%3A+CBI.html
Given this latest step in the transition to a new international reserve currency, and the debt crises in Western economies, and with the loss of Olympics as a distraction, and with an election coming with voters wanting urgently to hear meaningful plans to deal with real problems, would a force majeure false flag be TCTPU (Too Convenient To Pass Up)?
Wow. Are these really Americans saying these things? Never have I heard so much compassion for Iran, an enemy state of the US, who took overran our embassy and held Americans hostage. Amazing. What is wrong with you people?
"an enemy state of the US".. "the axis of evil".. "weapons of mass destruction"...
I guess you're only a "good" American when you believe what your government tells you without using your brain for even a second..
You must be one of those brilliant Yankees with a deep understanding of history all from watching Fox News/CNN and listenting to Rush/NPR. Ever heard of Kermit Roosevelt and Iran in 1953?
Please name a country Iran has attacked in the last 100 yrs. or 500 yrs.?
madridisburning
This has nothing to do with America vs. Iran you bleeding cunt. It has to do with banks & derivative positions.
As you see from my comments I totally agree with you. What's really strange is back in the first war on Iraq we role played U.S./U.N. against Saddam I was chosen to play Saddam. When the aircraft carriers moved in I launched a total war on Saudi oil facilities and the game was over. People freaked saying that isn't the game! You were supposed to plan against US! I said I did! Within weeks the world was in chaos and there was fighting within states over who deserved oil. Game changed overnight.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcZKso_Z6M8&