U.S. House passes Iran sanctions bill to slash oil exports

[dipsydoodle]

Last edited Thu Aug 1, 2013, 05:44 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - The House of Representatives easily passed a bill on Wednesday to tighten sanctions on Iran, showing a strong message to Tehran over its disputed nuclear program days before President-elect Hassan Rouhani is sworn in.

The vote also highlighted a growing divide between Congress and the Obama administration on Iran policy ahead of international talks on the nuclear program in coming months. Iran insists the nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.

The bill, which passed 400 to 20, would cut Iran's oil exports by another 1 million barrels per day over a year to near zero, in an attempt to reduce the flow of funds to the nuclear program. It is the first sanctions bill to put a number on exactly how much Iran's oil exports would be cut.

The legislation provides for heavy penalties for buyers who do not find alternative supplies, limits Iran's access to funds in overseas accounts and penalizes countries trading with Iran in other industrial sectors.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/01/us-usa-iran-sanctions-idUSBRE96U1GK20130801

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Given that substantial amount of Iran's oil and gas are traded with China and India by barter it will be interesting to see what heavy penalties are used in those cases.

Meanwhile :

UK open to improving London-Tehran ties, says William Hague.

The British foreign secretary, William Hague, has called his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, to say that the UK is open to improving London-Tehran ties on "a step-by-step and reciprocal basis".

In his phone conversation with Iran's foreign minister earlier on Wednesday, Hague also raised the issue of Tehran's nuclear dossier which is the subject of an international dispute and talks over it is currently at stalemate.

"The Foreign Secretary reiterated the need for urgent progress to resolve the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear programme," said a foreign office statement.

"He made clear that the UK was open to improvements in the bilateral relationship with Iran, on a step-by-step and reciprocal basis."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2013/jul/31/uk-open-to-improve-iran-ties-hague

[dtom67]

1. there is ALWAYS money for War...

Try collectng your Social security and its " we can't afford it ". Haven't they heard? America is energy independent now( bullshit); we can stop pissing people off in the Middle East. We have enough shale energy to last us until humans become extinct.

Of course, with an ice - free Arctic, that wll not be long.

All because a few thousand rich people could not give up their dominance over Mankind.

Fuck Humans, anyways......

[mallard]

2. In welcoming the new administration ...

... no time is wasted in setting the stage for further testy relations. Eventually we'll come to Iran's rescue, change their evil leadership and bring good results for a brighter future, as has been achieved with Iraq, Libya and Syria.

[John2]

4. You are ahead of yourself

aren't you? Syria hasn't been changed and is the Ally of Iran. Russia has also improved relations with Iran.

Congress made this vote 400-20. I wonder who the 20 was to reject going along with this? We also cut relations with Venezuela also. Iran is one of the reasons the U.S. nor Europe want stop aiding Egypt either. They know if they antagonize Egypt, they will move closer to the sphere of countries we don't have relations with. The U.S. use to rely on Iran as an Ally but Egypt replaced them. Egypt use to be closer to Russia, until Anwar Sadat moved it closer to the U.S. Sadat expelled the Russians. China also still has relations with Iran.

Iran has influence in Iraq and Lebanon. It has created ties in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They have relations with the North Koreans and the European Union, particularly Germany. There is a major pipeline being built on the continent which invoves Iran and Syria, and threatens the Saudis, Kuwait and Qatar. You mentioned the regime change in Iraq. Iran favored that because it helped them more than the United States,which shows how dimented the people in Congress are. Many of them have gotten very wealthy and drunk with power. They think they run the entire World and it will Bow to their demands. All the U.S. has done in the World has become the partners of what was once called the British Empire.

Everyone of those monarchs in the Middle East were created by the British Empire for their control. We now support them all. It is why it is called Imperialism. It is all about the resources and control of the peoples in that region. The more Iran breaks that cycle, the more powerful it becomes in the region which makes it a clear threat to the Western Powers. The Iranians have even created an Auto Industry.

[newfie11]

5. After we bomb the hell out if them

Destroy their society and kill many many innocents.
Occupy their country for years.

Yep you are right on.

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. Why does Iraq come to mind?

.
.
.

USA tried to cripple their economy with sanctions - Iraq found other ways to distribute their oil.

But,

Iraq had a pretty useless military compared to Iran's, and 1/4 the population.

Iran is a different cup of tea, and consider how long it took the USA's War-machine to subdue Iraq's military during it's invasion.

Also, USA seems to not have a concern of how these sanctions affect Iran's neighbors that depend on Iran's oil.

Most have already cut their imports from Iran, bowing to the USA's pressure.

They have already indicated further cuts would be harmful to their economies.

So, when is the invasion? - USA is gonna try, heck - they did it to Iraq who had NOTHING in the way of a nuclear program.

But they have oil . . . .

So do we.



(sigh)

CC

[sulphurdunn]

6. That should help boost oil prices.

[cosmicone]

7. We need to look after our own national interest

and stop a foreign policy that is dependent upon "What would Israel do?" (WWID)

Iran sanctions are stupid and will ultimately hurt the US, the petrodollar and US exports. If oil is sold in RMB (Yuans) or Rupees, it can only purchase something made in China or India .. and Iran does purchase a lot.

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. Imperial hubris. Who does the US think it is? It can't just force its will on the rest of the planet

[bemildred]

9. These guys are masters of "air politics". nt

[azurnoir]

10. so our congress critters service the oil industry -again

exactly what in reality will this do? How will it be enforced?

However what will happen is that US oil companies will use this as an excuse to ratchet up oil prices yet again

[dipsydoodle]

11. China reiterates opposition to U.S. sanctions on Iran

(Reuters) - China, Iran's largest trading partner and top oil customer, repeated its opposition on Friday to tougher U.S. sanctions on Iran after the House of Representatives approved a bill aimed at halting Iran's oil exports.

The bill seeks to cut Iran's oil exports by a further one million barrels per day to near zero over a year, an attempt to reduce the flow of funds to Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. The legislation provides for heavy penalties for buyers who do not find alternative supplies.

"China has long advocated resolution through dialogue and negotiations and opposes unilateral sanctions from one nation based on its domestic laws," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a faxed statement to Reuters.

"In particular, it opposes sanctions that will hurt the interests of a third party," it added, without elaborating.

The success of any toughening of the sanctions will depend on China, Iran's top customer, which has repeatedly said it opposes unilateral sanctions outside the purview of the United Nations.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/02/uk-usa-iran-china-idUKBRE9710DA20130802