WSJ - No Time to End Iran Sanctions

[Sineva]

Dont expect any empathy or humanity from these sorts of people,these are the true blue,dyed in the wool fascists who voted for chump,these are the exact same sorts of people who happily sat back and watched god knows how many iraqis slowly die of sanctions related disease,starvation and bombing,sometimes occasionally squeezing out the odd crocodile tear while loudly proclaiming that "the regime is responsible",though occasionally the mask did slip and you`d get a brief glimpse of the monster underneath and its utter banality,such as madeline albrights "We think the price is worth it"...........
Do NOT look to these monsters for mercy.....for they have none.

• OPINION

• REVIEW & OUTLOOK

No Time to End Iran Sanctions
The regime is responsible for its people’s suffering.
By
The Editorial Board
March 25, 2020 7:28 pm ET

• PRINT
• TEXT
• 106

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps carry out disinfection works as a preventive measure against the coronavirus pandemic in Tehran, March 25.
PHOTO: ROUZBEH FOULADI/ZUMA PRESS
Iranian proxy forces in Iraq continue to lob rockets into U.S. bases with deadly results. But amid the coronavirus, Iranian leaders want the U.S. to ease sanctions on the country in the name of compassion. President Trump should resist the plea.

“The US government has failed to abandon its malicious policy of maximum pressure,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote in a March 20 letter to the American public. “The sanctions have drastically undermined the ability of the Iranian people to fight the coronavirus and some among them are losing their lives as a result.”

Iran is one of the world’s virus hot spots, with 27,017 confirmed cases and more than 2,000 deaths. A World Health Organization official last week estimated that the death toll could be five times higher than official reports suggest. No one doubts everyday Iranians—along with Western hostages held by the government—are suffering immensely from the pandemic.

If American sanctions were the culprit, it might be reasonable to consider lifting them. But the regime’s incompetence and self-interest are to blame.

Sanctions didn’t force the government to play down the virus threat to boost turnout for parliamentary elections in February. Sanctions didn’t let Mahan Air keep at least 55 flights from China to Iran between Feb. 4 and 23. Sanctions didn’t require the country’s leaders to keep Friday prayers going far longer than was safe. Nor did sanctions stop the regime from imposing broader regional or national lockdowns.

American restrictions on Iranian economic activity include an exception for food and medicine imports. It’s true that in the past banks were still hesitant to allow such transactions, but the U.S. and Switzerland created a clearer channel for financiers to provide the country with help last month. The Iranians haven’t used it in any meaningful way, and they also rejected help from Doctors Without Borders. Iranian officials told the organization that help from “foreign forces” wasn’t required.

Even if more cash flowed to the government, corruption remains a problem. Last year Mr. Rouhani’s chief of staff admitted that more than $1 billion earmarked for importing medicine had simply disappeared. Around the same time a $170 million subsidy for medical supplies was used to import tobacco. New sanctions announced last week targeting the country’s petrochemical industry won’t affect relief efforts, but it will hurt regime cronies as they lose another revenue source.

The sanctions campaign has starved the government of hundreds of billions of dollars. Easing sanctions would provide more funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, not the public. Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal gave the country a cash windfall, but the public missed out on most of the benefits. The Islamic Republic has instead spent $16 billion subsidizing terrorism around the world since 2012, according to the State Department.

Easing sanctions would shore up the regime’s shaky position without providing relief to the Iranian people. Tehran has money for medicine if it cuts spending on missiles, nuclear-weapons development and military adventurism. Diverting billions from the mullahs’ violent imperial project is the best way to relieve suffering in Iran and the broader Middle East.

 

[raptor22]

Hope it makes Rouhani understands that the other side is not willing to even give him a relief for a short time let alone lifting it so leave them alone and focus on our capabilities ... sanctions could be always used as stick today or tomorrow you should make it blunt once for all ...

 

[OldTwilight]

Hope it makes Rouhani understands that the other side is not willing to even give him a relief for a short time let alone lifting it so leave them alone and focus on our capabilities ... sanctions could be always used as stick today or tomorrow you should make it blunt once for all ...

He is 75 years old , he won't change his mind ...

 

[aryobarzan]

Further reason to make Iran even more industrialized and free from blackmail. Iran as a country has everything a nation needs ...Vast lands, abundant resources, free energy, and above all smart people running Aryan blood in their veins... SKY is the limit for this nation..... F**K them and march on.

 

[Cthulhu]

A World Health Organization official last week estimated that the death toll could be five times higher than official reports suggest.

Again, This WHO official (Dr. Brennan, WHO emergency director for this region) never said this, These shameless hypocrite animals literally keep changing his words:

However, Brennan, who just returned from a mission to Iran last week, said that the number of cases reported could represent only about a fifth of the real numbers. The reason was that testing, as is the case even in some wealthy European countries, was restricted to severe cases.

"We've said the weakest link in their chain is the data," he said. "They are rapidly increasing their ability to test and so the numbers will go up," he said.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/202...ast/16reuters-health-coronavirus-mideast.html

Look how these shameless hypocrite animals changed his words here:

And here.

I mean, One of the good benefits of COVID-19 was once again proving that US MSM are a bunch of lower than pig lying sack of sh!t propagandists.


And sadly for the Americans, The latest empirical data shows that COVID-19 effects humans and Americans alike.

 

[Arminkh]

Dont expect any empathy or humanity from these sorts of people,these are the true blue,dyed in the wool fascists who voted for chump,these are the exact same sorts of people who happily sat back and watched god knows how many iraqis slowly die of sanctions related disease,starvation and bombing,sometimes occasionally squeezing out the odd crocodile tear while loudly proclaiming that "the regime is responsible",though occasionally the mask did slip and you`d get a brief glimpse of the monster underneath and its utter banality,such as madeline albrights "We think the price is worth it"...........
Do NOT look to these monsters for mercy.....for they have none.

• OPINION

• REVIEW & OUTLOOK

No Time to End Iran Sanctions
The regime is responsible for its people’s suffering.
By
The Editorial Board
March 25, 2020 7:28 pm ET

• PRINT
• TEXT
• 106

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps carry out disinfection works as a preventive measure against the coronavirus pandemic in Tehran, March 25.
PHOTO: ROUZBEH FOULADI/ZUMA PRESS
Iranian proxy forces in Iraq continue to lob rockets into U.S. bases with deadly results. But amid the coronavirus, Iranian leaders want the U.S. to ease sanctions on the country in the name of compassion. President Trump should resist the plea.

“The US government has failed to abandon its malicious policy of maximum pressure,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote in a March 20 letter to the American public. “The sanctions have drastically undermined the ability of the Iranian people to fight the coronavirus and some among them are losing their lives as a result.”

Iran is one of the world’s virus hot spots, with 27,017 confirmed cases and more than 2,000 deaths. A World Health Organization official last week estimated that the death toll could be five times higher than official reports suggest. No one doubts everyday Iranians—along with Western hostages held by the government—are suffering immensely from the pandemic.

If American sanctions were the culprit, it might be reasonable to consider lifting them. But the regime’s incompetence and self-interest are to blame.

Sanctions didn’t force the government to play down the virus threat to boost turnout for parliamentary elections in February. Sanctions didn’t let Mahan Air keep at least 55 flights from China to Iran between Feb. 4 and 23. Sanctions didn’t require the country’s leaders to keep Friday prayers going far longer than was safe. Nor did sanctions stop the regime from imposing broader regional or national lockdowns.

American restrictions on Iranian economic activity include an exception for food and medicine imports. It’s true that in the past banks were still hesitant to allow such transactions, but the U.S. and Switzerland created a clearer channel for financiers to provide the country with help last month. The Iranians haven’t used it in any meaningful way, and they also rejected help from Doctors Without Borders. Iranian officials told the organization that help from “foreign forces” wasn’t required.

Even if more cash flowed to the government, corruption remains a problem. Last year Mr. Rouhani’s chief of staff admitted that more than $1 billion earmarked for importing medicine had simply disappeared. Around the same time a $170 million subsidy for medical supplies was used to import tobacco. New sanctions announced last week targeting the country’s petrochemical industry won’t affect relief efforts, but it will hurt regime cronies as they lose another revenue source.

The sanctions campaign has starved the government of hundreds of billions of dollars. Easing sanctions would provide more funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, not the public. Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal gave the country a cash windfall, but the public missed out on most of the benefits. The Islamic Republic has instead spent $16 billion subsidizing terrorism around the world since 2012, according to the State Department.

Easing sanctions would shore up the regime’s shaky position without providing relief to the Iranian people. Tehran has money for medicine if it cuts spending on missiles, nuclear-weapons development and military adventurism. Diverting billions from the mullahs’ violent imperial project is the best way to relieve suffering in Iran and the broader Middle East.

Iran is not asking for mercy. Zarif figured he has an opportunity to put pressure on US and have the moral support of most of the countries. That is what he is doing. Iran has everything that it needs to fight the virus. And what it doesn't have can get from China.

Again, This WHO official (Dr. Brennan, WHO emergency director for this region) never said this, These shameless hypocrite animals literally keep changing his words:

However, Brennan, who just returned from a mission to Iran last week, said that the number of cases reported could represent only about a fifth of the real numbers. The reason was that testing, as is the case even in some wealthy European countries, was restricted to severe cases.

"We've said the weakest link in their chain is the data," he said. "They are rapidly increasing their ability to test and so the numbers will go up," he said.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/202...ast/16reuters-health-coronavirus-mideast.html

Look how these shameless hypocrite animals changed his words here:

And here.

I mean, One of the good benefits of COVID-19 was once again proving that US MSM are a bunch of lower than pig lying sack of sh!t propagandists.


And sadly for the Americans, The latest empirical data shows that COVID-19 effects humans and Americans alike.

Propaganda against Iran never stops! And now that spread in Iran is relatively slower that that of US, Italy and France, they claim Iran's data is not reliable. This shows it is as reliable as it comes:

 

[Kastor]

Some of those accusation in that article if true are pretty damning. We should be able to criticise our government. The billion of dollars disappearing here and there every couple of years is starting to piss me off.

 

[Sineva]

Iran is not asking for mercy. Zarif figured he has an opportunity to put pressure on US and have the moral support of most of the countries. That is what he is doing. Iran has everything that it needs to fight the virus. And what it doesn't have can get from China.

The point I was making was that the chumps of this world care nothing for the suffering of others because empathy is an utterly alien concept to them.Iran could have literally the moral support of the entire world on its side and it would not change a single damn thing.If rouhani & co genuinely expects that this international pandemic will force a change in western policies of economic warfare/terrorism against iran then he is just as big a fool as he ever was sadly.
I certainly hope that future iranian politicians will learn some hard lessons from this tragedy and take the steps necessary to insure that iran is as completely and totally self sufficient as possible in the indigenous production of all types of vital medicines and medical equipment.

US Grants Iraq Shortest Sanctions Waiver Yet for Iran Gas

The United States on Thursday granted Iraq a 30-day waiver to keep importing Iranian gas despite American sanctions, two Iraqi officials told AFP, the shortest extension yet.

The US slapped tough sanctions on the Iranian energy sector in late 2018 and has granted Iraq a series of waivers, usually for 45, 90 or 120 days.

Baghdad relies on gas and electricity imports from its neighbor Tehran to supply about a third of its power grid, crippled by years of conflict and poor maintenance.

"This is the final extension," one source at the Iraqi president's office told AFP.

The source said Washington had been frustrated that Iran was meddling in the government formation process in Iraq.

Adnan Zurfi, who has had close ties with US officials since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was nominated on March 17 and has a month to pull together his cabinet.

"The US did not want to put Zurfi in a difficult position by not renewing the waiver," a second senior Iraqi official told AFP, confirming the 30-day extension.

The official said Baghdad had prepared a checklist at the beginning of the last 45-day waiver period of ways the country could decrease its reliance on Iranian oil.

"But we haven't been able to accomplish any of them because of the circumstances," the source said.

Iraq has been hit by a wave of crises in recent weeks, including the government formation stalemate, collapsing oil prices and the novel coronavirus pandemic.

OPEC's second-biggest producer relies on crude exports to fund more than 90 percent of its state budget, but the crash to a price of under $30 per barrel puts it in jeopardy.

The COVID-19 virus has also spread across the country, with nearly 350 confirmed cases and 29 deaths announced by the health ministry.


https://www.bourseandbazaar.com/new...aq-shortest-sanctions-waiver-yet-for-iran-gas

 

[TheImmortal]

If your trying to destroy your enemy why would you give him relief?

People forget in the old days villages and countries were pillaged and burned to the ground.

For US to take the pressure off Iran right now makes zero sense.

But in the end it will benefit Iran because all those who think that if Iran was under “severe back breaking pressure” it would yield and negotiate will now have the best case study in the world. That in 2020 even under the most severe sanctions and a pandemic ravaging it’s country Iran still did not come to negotiate.

Thus Iran will never scrap its nuclear program.

 

[Kastor]

The point I was making was that the chumps of this world care nothing for the suffering of others because empathy is an utterly alien concept to them.Iran could have literally the moral support of the entire world on its side and it would not change a single damn thing.If rouhani & co genuinely expects that this international pandemic will force a change in western policies of economic warfare/terrorism against iran then he is just as big a fool as he ever was sadly.
I certainly hope that future iranian politicians will learn some hard lessons from this tragedy and take the steps necessary to insure that iran is as completely and totally self sufficient as possible in the indigenous production of all types of vital medicines and medical equipment.

US Grants Iraq Shortest Sanctions Waiver Yet for Iran Gas

The United States on Thursday granted Iraq a 30-day waiver to keep importing Iranian gas despite American sanctions, two Iraqi officials told AFP, the shortest extension yet.

The US slapped tough sanctions on the Iranian energy sector in late 2018 and has granted Iraq a series of waivers, usually for 45, 90 or 120 days.

Baghdad relies on gas and electricity imports from its neighbor Tehran to supply about a third of its power grid, crippled by years of conflict and poor maintenance.

"This is the final extension," one source at the Iraqi president's office told AFP.

The source said Washington had been frustrated that Iran was meddling in the government formation process in Iraq.

Adnan Zurfi, who has had close ties with US officials since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was nominated on March 17 and has a month to pull together his cabinet.

"The US did not want to put Zurfi in a difficult position by not renewing the waiver," a second senior Iraqi official told AFP, confirming the 30-day extension.

The official said Baghdad had prepared a checklist at the beginning of the last 45-day waiver period of ways the country could decrease its reliance on Iranian oil.

"But we haven't been able to accomplish any of them because of the circumstances," the source said.

Iraq has been hit by a wave of crises in recent weeks, including the government formation stalemate, collapsing oil prices and the novel coronavirus pandemic.

OPEC's second-biggest producer relies on crude exports to fund more than 90 percent of its state budget, but the crash to a price of under $30 per barrel puts it in jeopardy.

The COVID-19 virus has also spread across the country, with nearly 350 confirmed cases and 29 deaths announced by the health ministry.


https://www.bourseandbazaar.com/new...aq-shortest-sanctions-waiver-yet-for-iran-gas

These articles are done by paid Israeli shills nothing more.....most often than not, the press derides Trump's and Pompus, I mean Pompeo's policy towards Iran....I'm glad you're seeing this, because everytime those knuckleheads in Iran chant "Death to America", that's what the Americans see here.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Thus Iran will never scrap its nuclear program.

Exactly. It seems to most rational people (non-Iranians) that nuclear weapons are really not worth having when you are trying to develop your country in every other way. The fact that the mullahs will not give them up shows that the mullahs value their own power above all else in this world.

The regime is responsible for its people’s suffering.

IRGC Cyber Division confirms Khamenei’s claim that ‘demons’ are assisting Iran’s enemies

Following criticism of this omission, the Telegram channel of the Cyber Division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) posted, on March 22, a full video of Khamenei’s statements. As support for his assertions about the demons, the Cyber Division also posted video clips of two two seminary lecturers who are well-known in regime-affiliated ideological circles, Ali Akbar Raefi-Pour and Hojatoleslam Valiollah Naghi-Pour, claiming that Israeli and American espionage agencies are using “demons” to carry out intelligence operations against Iran and against the resistance organizations affiliated with Iran.

Associates of Khamenei have previously accused Jews of using sorcery. Mehdi Taeb, a close Khamenei associate and the head of the Ammar Headquarters think tank that advises the supreme leader, said in 2013 that the Jews’ sorcery is the most powerful in the world and that they are using it to attack Iran. Also in 2013, the Rasanews website, which is associated with the seminaries in Iranian city of Qom, published an article arguing that the Jews hand down their knowledge of sorcery from generation to generation in order to use it to control the world, nature and even God’s decisions.

In Islamic and Iranian folklore, the world’s sentient beings are divided into ins (mankind) and jinn (demons). Jinns, which are mentioned in the Quran, are supernatural beings with free will, and can be either good or evil; evil jinns can lead humans astray. According to Shi’ite tradition, when the Mahdi, the Hidden Imam, is revealed, he will bring all the jinns under his command.

The following are the main points of the statements by Khamenei and by the two lecturers claiming that Jews and Israeli intelligence organizations are using witchcraft against Iran:

In his March 22 speech, Khamenei reiterated the accusation that the United States had created and was spreading the COVID-19 virus across the world, explaining that “demons are assisting the enemies.”

“There are enemies who are demons and there are enemies who are humans, and they help one another,” he said. “The intelligence services of many countries cooperate with one another against us … Today, our most evil enemy—the enemy of the Islamic Republic [of Iran]—is America.”

On March 22, the IRGC Cyber Division published a video of Khamenei’s statements, captioned “The Supreme Leader’s Important Hint Regarding The Western-Hebrew Spy Apparatuses’ Use Of Infidel Demons To Strike Iran,” along with clips of statements by the two lecturers.

The first clip is an excerpt from an undated speech by Ali Akbar Raefi-Pour, a seminary lecturer affiliated with the Ammar Headquarters think tank, who says: “The Israeli Mossad is officially and insistently using demons to read the other side’s military thinking, to read the enemy chief of staff’s plans, and to carry out intelligence operations.”

The text that accompanied the video noted that, although Raefi-Pour’s statements were mocked at the time, the 2016 American film Suicide Squad showed that the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence apparatuses “are using demons in order to steal classified documents from the Iranian Defense Ministry.”

The second clip showed Hojatoleslam Valiollah Naghi-Pour, identified as a seminary lecturer and a “broadcasting authority expert,” speaking on a program on satanic forces aired on an unknown date by the Iranian Broadcasting Authority’s Channel 3. He said: “Israel wanted to use demonic force to infiltrate the intelligence systems of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. They did not succeed, and they [the Israelis] are still wondering why not, because it is well known that the Jews are experts in sorcery and in creating relationships with demons.”


https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com...cle_bd7d7df3-109c-5c98-88fd-0bd51cddbcda.html

 

[Bokhari]

Exactly. It seems to most rational people (non-Iranians) that nuclear weapons are really not worth having when you are trying to develop your country in every other way. The fact that the mullahs will not give them up shows that the mullahs value their own power above all else in this world.

The regime is responsible for its people’s suffering.

IRGC Cyber Division confirms Khamenei’s claim that ‘demons’ are assisting Iran’s enemies

Following criticism of this omission, the Telegram channel of the Cyber Division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) posted, on March 22, a full video of Khamenei’s statements. As support for his assertions about the demons, the Cyber Division also posted video clips of two two seminary lecturers who are well-known in regime-affiliated ideological circles, Ali Akbar Raefi-Pour and Hojatoleslam Valiollah Naghi-Pour, claiming that Israeli and American espionage agencies are using “demons” to carry out intelligence operations against Iran and against the resistance organizations affiliated with Iran.

Associates of Khamenei have previously accused Jews of using sorcery. Mehdi Taeb, a close Khamenei associate and the head of the Ammar Headquarters think tank that advises the supreme leader, said in 2013 that the Jews’ sorcery is the most powerful in the world and that they are using it to attack Iran. Also in 2013, the Rasanews website, which is associated with the seminaries in Iranian city of Qom, published an article arguing that the Jews hand down their knowledge of sorcery from generation to generation in order to use it to control the world, nature and even God’s decisions.

In Islamic and Iranian folklore, the world’s sentient beings are divided into ins (mankind) and jinn (demons). Jinns, which are mentioned in the Quran, are supernatural beings with free will, and can be either good or evil; evil jinns can lead humans astray. According to Shi’ite tradition, when the Mahdi, the Hidden Imam, is revealed, he will bring all the jinns under his command.

The following are the main points of the statements by Khamenei and by the two lecturers claiming that Jews and Israeli intelligence organizations are using witchcraft against Iran:

In his March 22 speech, Khamenei reiterated the accusation that the United States had created and was spreading the COVID-19 virus across the world, explaining that “demons are assisting the enemies.”

“There are enemies who are demons and there are enemies who are humans, and they help one another,” he said. “The intelligence services of many countries cooperate with one another against us … Today, our most evil enemy—the enemy of the Islamic Republic [of Iran]—is America.”

On March 22, the IRGC Cyber Division published a video of Khamenei’s statements, captioned “The Supreme Leader’s Important Hint Regarding The Western-Hebrew Spy Apparatuses’ Use Of Infidel Demons To Strike Iran,” along with clips of statements by the two lecturers.

The first clip is an excerpt from an undated speech by Ali Akbar Raefi-Pour, a seminary lecturer affiliated with the Ammar Headquarters think tank, who says: “The Israeli Mossad is officially and insistently using demons to read the other side’s military thinking, to read the enemy chief of staff’s plans, and to carry out intelligence operations.”

The text that accompanied the video noted that, although Raefi-Pour’s statements were mocked at the time, the 2016 American film Suicide Squad showed that the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence apparatuses “are using demons in order to steal classified documents from the Iranian Defense Ministry.”

The second clip showed Hojatoleslam Valiollah Naghi-Pour, identified as a seminary lecturer and a “broadcasting authority expert,” speaking on a program on satanic forces aired on an unknown date by the Iranian Broadcasting Authority’s Channel 3. He said: “Israel wanted to use demonic force to infiltrate the intelligence systems of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. They did not succeed, and they [the Israelis] are still wondering why not, because it is well known that the Jews are experts in sorcery and in creating relationships with demons.”


https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com...cle_bd7d7df3-109c-5c98-88fd-0bd51cddbcda.html

First USA has numerous bio labs in the world to work for bio warfare. It was USA and Britain who provided saddam with bio agents for chemical attacks in Iran Iraq war. China has officially questioned USA role in this disease expansion. Even if this time it was natural spread of the Coronavirus, USA is so evil regime that it can’t be trusted. This whole issue gave a good opportunity to Iran to prepare in an organised manner to fight these kind of challenges in future. Rahbar Aytollah Khamenei gave excellent directive to military to permenantly establish a task force to develops defensive response against bio warfare. Iran current rulers are the best leaders who are truly serving their nation much better than the USA health system.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Rahbar Aytollah Khamenei gave excellent directive to military to permenantly establish a task force to develops defensive response against bio warfare. Iran current rulers are the best leaders who are truly serving their nation much better than the USA health system.

Mr. Bokhari, Sir. You are obviously brilliant and very well-informed. Thank you for your magnificent contribution to this discussion.