Sanctions

With its traditionally cruel approach to other human beings, the US has now imposed new sanctions on Syria – that is, for all practical purposes, on the Syrian people. Haven’t they suffered enough in their double cage – that of the al-Assad leadership and, worse, that of the US and Western allies’ attempts at regime change since 2006? My answer is: More than enough. The US should be ashamed of itself for maintaining such a sadistic approach by means of almost 8000 sanctions on 30+ countries – most of them not leading to anything politically, only to the suffering of the people. Cuba since 1962, Syria and Iran since 1979, to mention a few. I am happy to speak about this stupid policy on Iran’s equivalent to BBC, PressTV. The (self)censorhip today is such that no Western mainstream media would dare interview me with that critical attitude to the US....

We hear next to nothing about these sanctions in the so-called free media – primary sanctions by the US hitting Iran directly, secondary sanctions by the US demanding other countries – the EU and NATO allies in particular – to implement its sanctions, i.e. to accept that US sanctions laws shall apply to them as sovereign states. The EU has not been able to get its acts together and respect the nuclear deal, or JCPOA: not in autumn 2015 when it could not find a way to temporarily host 1,5 million refugees arriving as asylum seekers from countries destroyed predominantly by the EU/NATO members themselves – and not now when the coronavirus hits Europe and they have let China be the one who helps their neighbour Italy. On March 15, 2020, I was asked by Iran’s PressTV to comment on these matters in the wake of Iranian foreign minister, Dr...

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers February 10, 2020 The US is currently attacking one-third of the planet’s population with 8,000 economic sanctions, ongoing acts of war against 39 nations. “Their intent is to shrink the economy and cause chronic shortages and hyperinflation while ensuring a lack of access to finance to pay for essentials.” Originally posted in the Black Agenda Report, January 15, 2020 The United States is relying more heavily on illegal unilateral coercive measures (also known as economic sanctions) in place of war or as part of its build-up to war. In fact, economic sanctions are an act of war that kills tens of thousands of people each year through financial strangulation. An economic blockade places a country under siege. A recent example is the increase in economic measures being imposed against Iran, which many viewed as more acceptable than a military attack. In response to Iran...

If you appreciated this conversation with a leading TFF expert Farhang Jahanpour is a retired professor from the University of Isfahan and former part-time tutor at the University of Oxford, former TFF Board member and now TFF Associate. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that takes center stage in this conversation can be read here.

European allies of the U-S have turned down a request by the American President to leave the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran (JCPOA). France says it remains committed to the Iran deal, and will continue to work with other parties. Britain has pledged to remain committed too. Prime Minister Boris Johnson reaffirmed London’s support, in a phone call with Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani. US president Donald Trump called on France, Germany, Britain and other signatories to leave the Iran deal and negotiate a new accord. Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in May 2018 and reinstated even harder sanctions on the innocent people of Iran. Editor’s noteUnfortunately, a couple of days after this video was posted and accessible, Google which owns YouTube decided to close down PressTV’s account. Today, January 21, we tried again at no avail. It’s blatant censorship, allegedly explained by Google as a way to adhere...

. On December 12, 2012, on the day, 4 years earlier, Western countries and allies – perversely calling themselves ‘Friends of Syria’ – carried through a regime change by statement and set up a Syrian National Council of people never elected by anyone in Syria and told the world that it was, from now on, the only ‘legitimate representative of the Syrian people!’ During the 4 years, Western, Saudi, Turkish and the Gulf States supported innumerable illegal, destructive and mainly foreign terrorist groups with the goal to undermine the legitimate Syrian government and destabilise the country – as had been recommended by US ambassador William Roebuck (1) in Damascus as far back as in 2006 (WikiLeaks documentation here). December 12, 2016, marked a fundamental turning point. Aleppo did not “fall to the dictator/butcher/mass murderer” aka President Bashar al-Assad – no, it was liberated and the occupation by terrorist groups such...

Here is the background – Germany’s, France’s and the UK’s letter to the UN Security Council accusing Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran’s PressTV asked me to comment on this issue in the larger framework of global nuclear policies.

By Conn M. Hallinan November 27, 2019 The fallout from the September attack on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil facilities is continuing to reverberate throughout the Middle East, sidelining old enmities – sometimes for new ones – and re-drawing traditional alliances. While Turkey’s recent invasion of northern Syria is grabbing the headlines, the bigger story may be that major regional players are contemplating some historic re-alignments. Originally posted on Counterpunch on November 8, 2019, here After years of bitter rivalry, the Saudis and the Iranians are considering how they can dial down their mutual animosity. The formerly powerful Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of the Persian Gulf monarchs is atomizing because Saudi Arabia is losing its grip. And Washington’s former domination of the region appears to be in decline. Some of these developments are long-standing, pre-dating the cruise missile and drone assault that knocked out 50 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s oil...

By Scott Ritter November 4, 2019 At a time when the credibility of the United States as either an unbiased actor or reliable ally lies in tatters, Russia has emerged as the one major power whose loyalty to its allies is unquestioned, and whose ability to serve as an honest broker between seemingly intractable opponents is unmatched. Originally posted on Truthdig.com on October 30, 2019 here If there is to be peace in Syria, it will be largely due to the patient efforts of Moscow employing deft negotiation, backed up as needed by military force, to shape conditions conducive for a political solution to a violent problem. If ever there was a primer for the art of diplomacy, the experience of Russia in Syria from 2011 to the present is it. Like the rest of the world, Russia was caught off guard by the so-called Arab Spring that swept through the Middle...

By Pepe Escobar October 1, 2019 “It is clear to us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack. There is no other plausible explanation. We support ongoing investigations to establish further details.” Originally posted on in the Asia Times on September 25, 2019 here The statement above was not written by Franz Kafka. In fact, it was written by a Kafka derivative: Brussels-based European bureaucracy. The Merkel-Macron-Johnson trio, representing Germany, France and the UK, seems to know what no “ongoing investigation” has unearthed: that Tehran was definitively responsible for the twin aerial strikes on Saudi oil installations. “There is no other plausible explanation” translates as the occultation of Yemen. Yemen only features as the pounding ground of a vicious Saudi war, de facto supported by Washington and London and conducted with US and UK weapons, which has generated a horrendous humanitarian crisis. So Iran is the culprit, no evidence provided, end of...

Intro Below please find a letter I wrote more than 3 months ago to the Nordic bank, Nordea – present in roughtly 20 countries around the world. Since then, I have been waiting for an answer, but none has arrived. I believe it should have been possible for Chairman of the Nordea board, Mr Thorbjörn Magnusson, to have responded by now. As this is not the case and I have no reason to expect an answer will arrive from him, I hereby make the matter be known to a wider circle of people. Should anybody in the Swedish/Nordic press be willing to take it up, it would be good. But I also do not expect that given the political correctness practised, not the least around the issue of Iran and the primary and secondary sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran and on everybody else, Europe in particular. PS...

You’ve hear a lot about the US withdrawal – never mentioned that it was an international law violation – from the nuclear deal with Iran (JCPOA). But you have probably not seen a couple of those Americans who are most responsible, on a day-to-day basis, for carrying out what is de facto an attempt to strangle Iran, its people and some of its leaders. In short, to undermine and in the long run destroy Iran. The two people are Sigal Mandelker of the US Treasury & Brian Hook, US State Department’s “Iran Action Group”. And the video below offer you insights in how they think – and how they justify what they do. It is a dialogue that took place recently at AIPAC. AIPAC is the acronym for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee which is one of the most influential and well-financed lobby groups in the world whose task...