subject: How Will The Iranians Respond To Us And World Sanctions? [print this page] The US and some of the rest of the world community have levied tough sanctions on Iran in an attempt to discourage them from developing nuclear weapons but the Iranian government seems determined to do so at all costs. The sanctions are having a negative effect on their economy but not as severe as the world would like.
The Iranians are down playing the sanctions by saying they are part of a psychological war whose objective is to sow discontent among Iranians. They insist on continuing their nuclear development in spite of the sanctions.
The newest sanctions were reluctantly instituted by President Obama but he knew that they were necessary because of the die hard attitude of the Iranians. They give American banks additional powers to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government and close loopholes that officials say Iran has used to move money despite earlier restrictions.
The United States and its allies suspect Iran's nuclear program is geared toward producing an atomic bomb. Iran denies the charge, insisting its uranium enrichment program is only for peaceful purposes. They say this for the sake of propaganda but they give not so thinly veiled indications that they will do otherwise once they develop these weapons. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran's central bank has no financial transactions with the United States and would not be affected.
I dont know if this is true but it is a definite indicator of their attitude about the situation. He also goes on to say that "Many of these (U.S.) activities are in the sphere of psychological war and propaganda, and they cannot affect our work."
The new stricter sanctions will be enforced under an order signed by President Obama. The measures target Iran's Central Bank and its other financial institutions and are aimed at complicating the country's ability to conduct international commerce.
Iranian Vice President, Mohammad Reza Rahimi pledged, "Iran will make the sanctions ineffective as it did in the past, and it will continue selling oil," the official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday.
At the same time, Iranian lawmakers are pushing ahead with a bill to cut off oil sales to Europe before a punitive EU embargo goes into effect.
The U.S. and Europe want to deprive Iran of the oil income it needs to run its government and pay for the nuclear program, but many experts believe Iran will be able to find other buyers outside Europe.
Mehmanparast insisted the penalties will have no effect and would not halt Iran's nuclear program.
Iran has acknowledged its labs have enriched uranium up to 20 percent, and it can be turned into weapons-grade material more quickly than the lower enriched uranium.
In Vienna, diplomats said Iran recently doubled its capacity for 20 percent enrichment by hooking up two more series of centrifuges at its Fordo facility, which is deep underground in a mountainside south of Tehran and possibly safe from air strikes.
The threat of a strike by the US and Israel looms larger and larger on the horizon as time passes without any progress. President Obama has stated that the Iranians will not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Military Ring Express
