Iran Dumps The US Dollar: ‘The Dollar Has No Place In Our Transactions Today’

The nation of Iran has dumped the United States dollar in favor of the European euro amid tensions with Washington.  Tehran’s supreme leader has proclaimed that the “dollar has no place in our transactions today.”

According to RT, The governor of Iran’s central bank (CBI) Valiollah Seif said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had welcomed his suggestion of replacing the dollar with the euro in foreign trade, as the “dollar has no place in our transactions today.” The new policy could reportedly encourage government bodies and firms linked to the state to increase their use of the euro at the expense of the American currency.

The dollar’s downward spiral continues as financial analyst Peter Schiff predicted in 2008 and has been warning of ever since.  Schiff pulled no punches when saying that the long-term trend for the dollar is essentially a slow death.

They’re going to print money until they revive the economy. You can’t revive the economy by printing money. They’re going to suffocate it to death. It’s going to die by hyperinflation. –Peter Schiff

France will start offering euro-denominated credits to Iranian buyers of its goods later this year to keep its trade out of the reach of US sanctions, said the head of state-owned French investment bank Bpifrance. According to CBI’s Director of Foreign Exchange Rules and Policies Affairs Mehdi Kasraeipour, the share of the greenback in Iran’s trade activities is not high. As part of a trade embargo, US banks are banned from dealing with Iran.

Last month, Tehran announced that purchase orders by merchants that are based on US currency would no longer be allowed to go through import procedures. The step followed an official request by the CBI and was specifically meant to address fluctuations in market rates of the US dollar. –RT

Iran is also seeking to develop cryptocurrencies to beat the United States at their own sanctioning game.

Iran developing national cryptocurrency to bypass US sanctions https://t.co/5rLrfPqyhU pic.twitter.com/Pt0LRg9Ylh

— RT (@RT_com) February 26, 2018

Tehran, which has long sought to switch to a non-dollar-based trade, had already signed agreements with several countries. It is also currently in talks with Russia on using national currencies in settlements.

While meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November, Khamenei said the best way to beat any US sanctions against the two countries was joint efforts to dump the American currency in bilateral trade. He told President Putin that, by using methods such as eliminating the US dollar and replacing it with national currencies in transactions between two or more parties, the sides could “isolate the Americans.”

But Peter Schiff says that it’s the Federal Reserve that will crash the dollar.  Iran’s decision to no longer use the dollar will only add a small scratch to the gaping wound that’s the problem. Schiff holds firm that the consequence of the Federal Reserve manipulating the economy will be the crash of the dollar.

They [the Fed] actually made the bubbles bigger than the ones that popped. So now, the dollar’s collapse is going to be that much bigger, because it’s now a bigger bubble with more air to come out of it. And I think they have no more tricks up their sleeves. When this happens – it’s over. –Peter Schiff

Will Washington Reimpose Sanctions on Iranian Oil and Gas?

Post-JCPOA sanctions imposed by the Obama and Trump administrations flagrantly violated Iranian nuclear deal terms.

New ones targeting its oil and gas exports would deprive the country of billions of dollars in revenues.

Bipartisan hostility toward Iran is intense. Last month, Trump decertified the JCPOA nuclear deal – falsely accusing the country of not living up to its spirit, a bald-faced lie, ignoring the IAEA affirming it’s fully complying with its obligations.

Trump turned truth on its head, saying “(w)e will not continue down the path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout.” No such threats exist. America and its rogue allies pose the only ones.

He announced tough (illegal) sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), falsely accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Congressional members now have 60 days (until mid-December) to decide whether to reimpose new sanctions on Iran harsh enough to kill the JCPOA.

Trump urged tough action, saying “if we are not able to reach a solution…then the agreement will be terminated.”

If sanctions are imposed on Iranian oil and gas exports, its economy will be severely harmed if European and Asian countries go along – other than China and perhaps Japan, continuing to buy Iranian oil.

European P5+1 countries France, Britain and Germany agreed about Iranian compliance with JCPOA terms, strongly opposing Trump’s intent to weaken or kill the deal.

If they refuse to go along with unfairly imposed US sanctions, along with China and other countries, their effect would be muted.

Europe, China, Japan and South Korea are the main buyers of Iranian oil.

Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy director Jason Bordoff believes it’s unlikely to “see the the kind of impact – sanctions and one million barrels coming off the market – that we saw” pre-JCPOA.

Iranian oil minister Bijan Zangeneh said his country’s oil supply to the market is up to 2.5 million barrels a day…”

“(T)he (unlikely) removal of this amount would definitely affect the market,” referring to a possible US boycott.

Trump’s remarks so far had no impact on Iranian oil and gas exports. Zangeneh said 60% of oil shipments go to Asian countries, about 40% to European ones.

Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said “(t)he United States has had a policy of imposing sanctions on Iran for the past 40 years. Basically, they have immunized us to US sanctions.”

Washington “is addicted to sanctions.” US officials “should have learned by now (they) don’t work.”

Zarif blasted Trump for threatening to walk away from the internationally agreed on nuclear deal, permitting Congress to reimpose sanctions as tough as pre-JCPOA.

His remarks and actions also threaten “peace and security in the region,” Zarif stressed, adding:

“The nuclear deal is the result of 10 years of posturing and two years of negotiations. Unfortunately, this administration is going back to posturing.”

Walking away from the deal, along with sanctioning Iranian oil and gas exports, would be more proof that Washington can never be trusted.

The post Will Washington Reimpose Sanctions on Iranian Oil and Gas? appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

New US Sanctions on China and Russia

[image: Getty]Unilaterally imposed sanctions on any countries for any reasons are flagrantly illegal.

They’re hostile to international relations. They’re how hegemons operate – extrajudicially by their own rules alone.

On Tuesday, 16 Chinese and Russian entities and individuals were targeted, along with two Singapore-based companies for alleged involvement in trade with North Korea, sanctions expanded to include oil – what Security Council members excluded from their August 5 action.

Attempting to justify the unjustifiable, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said “(i)t is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region.”

“We are taking actions consistent with UN sanctions to show that there are consequences for defying sanctions and providing support to North Korea, and to deter this activity in the future.”

Beijing blasted what it called America’s “long-arm jurisdiction.” A statement by its US embassy said “(w)e strongly urge the US to immediately correct its mistake, so as not to impact bilateral cooperation on relevant issues” – highly unlikely, further straining bilateral relations.

Moscow responded sharply. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said “Washington has stepped on the same rake again. This time, on the subject of North Korea.”

“The trend towards persistent destruction of bilateral relations, initiated by the Obama administration has been carried on.”

“It’s a fourth such escapade since the arrival of the new team in the White House…(W)e get down to pondering a response inevitable in this situation.”

“Washington should have learned in the past years that we do not accept the language of sanctions, since actions in that vein only impede the solution of real problems. But it looks like they have failed to grasp such obvious truths for the time being.”

Last month, Ryabkov said US sanctions once imposed won’t be lifted no matter what Russia does or doesn’t do – even if “we agree to anything and hoist a white flag.”

Russia and China foster good relations with all countries, favoring diplomacy to resolve differences.

Washington doesn’t negotiate. It demands – its policy consistent since Soviet Russia’s 1991 dissolution, the high point of bilateral relations during the Reagan/Gorbachev era long over.

Additional US sanctions were imposed at a time of heightened tensions – with large-scale joint US/South Korean military exercises underway, continuing through August 31 – what Pyongyang believes is preparation for war on its country.

Last week, DPRK state media denounced what it called a provocation “driv(ing) the situation on the Korean Peninsula into a catastrophe.”

Urging by China and Russia to halt the exercise in return for Pyongyang suspending its nuclear and ballistic missile testing was ignored in Washington and Seoul – on the phony pretext of needing to proceed for self-defense, despite North Korea posing no threat.

Following imposition of new sanctions, Rex Tillerson noted Pyongyang “restraint” since July 28, its most recent missile test – its last nuclear test in September 2016.

Russia, China and North Korea are permanent US enemies, targeted for regime change as long as they remain free from US control – risking eventual catastrophic nuclear war if dark forces in Washington aren’t curbed.