1. huh, look at that. ex CIA director James Woolsey gives some recommendations about how to handle Iran at the Herzliya conference…February 3. he suggests that no banks anywhere in the world can do any business with the Revolutionary Guard, which control about a third of the Iranian economy. that’s the idea… of course, big pharma can do business — that’s grandfathered.
2. lo and behold, a week later - February 11 - they happen! turns out the US is going after the Revolutionary Guard using their weapon of choice: BANKS. so the advice that Woolsey had for Bibi becomes the policy of Obama.
WASHINGTON - THE Obama administration narrowed in on Iran’s all-powerful Revolutionary Guard by imposing new sanctions on Wednesday on the force behind suspect nuclear work and urging the world to do the same.
It ordered a freeze on assets of an individual and four firms linked to the Revolutionary Guard - a unilateral US step toward what President Barack Obama has warned will be a ’significant regime of sanctions’ backed internationally.
The Treasury Department designated a Revolutionary Guard commander and four subsidiaries of a construction firm owned or controlled by the elite unit as ‘proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters.’
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the US is targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for its role in Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, alleged links to terrorism and crackdown on anti-government protests. The Revolutionary Guard, which has been hit by repeated sanctions in the past, is also a major business force in Iran.
Mr Crowley said US diplomats put ‘particular emphasis’ on the elite military branch when they consult with other powers about sanctions, but they were not yet ready to put a draft resolution on the table at the UN Security Council. ‘Our objective here is to try to put pressure on the government and those who are supporting its policies, without having undue impact on the Iranian people,’ Mr Crowley told AFP.
The United States has been consulting with Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany on Iran, but Beijing now appears to be the lone hold-out against sanctions and is calling for further negotiations. The six powers have been leading a multi-year effort to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which the West fears masks a drive to build a nuclear bomb. Iran denies the charge, saying it is for peaceful use of energy. — AFP
Canada to use its G-8 presidency to press for Iran sanctions
OTTAWA - CANADA will use its G-8 presidency to press the club of world’s richest nations for more sanctions against Iran to try to curb its nuclear ambitions, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday.
‘Canada will use its G-8 presidency to continue to focus international attention and action on the Iranian regime’ and ‘work with its allies to find strong and viable solutions, including sanctions, to hold Iran to account,’ Mr Harper said in a statement.
‘It is time for Iran to end its defiance of the international community, suspend its enrichment activity and take immediate steps toward transparency and compliance by halting the construction of new enrichment sites, and fully cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency,’ he said.
Mr Harper’s announcement came as the US Treasury Department ordered a freeze on assets of an individual and four companies linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. US President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for a ’significant regime of sanctions’ against Iran for seeking to further enrich nuclear materials in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions actions.
In Moscow, the powerful head of Russia’s national security council, Nikolai Patrushev, said Teheran’s announcement that it had started work to produce 20 per cent enriched uranium cast doubt on its claims not to be pursuing weapons. Mr Patrushev indicated the Kremlin’s patience in trying to seek dialogue with Teheran was wearing thin. — AFP
