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Iran: New Sanctions Closed ‘the Path of Diplomacy’ With the United States

Iran: New Sanctions Closed ‘the Path of Diplomacy’ With the United States

Weird. The U.S. has held open the door for diplomacy, but Iran refuses to come to the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFq2U2bBui8

President Donald Trump issued stricter sanctions on Iran on Monday, hitting the Supreme Leaders Office after Iran shot down an unmanned US drone last week.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani lashed out at the new sanctions on Tuesday. He claimed that the sanctions mean Trump is “lying” about wanting to hold negotiation talks with the regime and that he has poisoned the White House with his “mental illness.”

From The Washington Post:

In a searing televised address, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called restrictions against Iran’s supreme leader “outrageous and idiotic” and said they showed “certain failure” on the part of the Trump administration to isolate Iran.

“You call for negotiations. If you are telling the truth, why are you simultaneously seeking to sanction our foreign minister?” Rouhani said Tuesday, referring to remarks by U.S. officials suggesting plans to sanction Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif later this month.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Twitter that the “useless sanctioning” of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Zarif, who led Iran’s nuclear negotiations with world powers, “means the permanent closure of the doors of diplomacy.”

“Trump’s government is annihilating all of the established international mechanisms for maintaining world peace and security,” said the spokesman, Abbas Mousavi.

Mousavi tweeted that the new sanctions have closed “the path of diplomacy with the desperate government of the United States.”

Rouhani also stated that a “government with an iota of wisdom and prudence cannot impose sanctions against the most senior authority of a country.”

Uh, yes, we can. Rouhani thinks the sanctions mean Trump is lying about wanting talks, but he forgot to mention that Iran has put no effort into making the discussions happen.

National Security Advisor John Bolton insisted that the US has “held the door open to real negotiations,” but described Iran’s silence as “deafening.”

WaPo continued:

Bolton spoke at a trilateral summit of U.S., Israeli and Russian national security advisers in Jerusalem — the first of its kind.

After a meeting with his counterparts, Bolton told reporters that the U.S. pressure campaign would force Iran to engage in new nuclear negotiations, Reuters news agency reported.

“They’ll either get the point or . . . we will simply enhance the maximum-pressure campaign further,” Bolton said. He predicted that “the combination of sanctions and other pressure” would “bring Iran to the table.”

Honestly, I do not think anything will bring Iran to the table. I prefer sanctions over war, but it seems like the sanctions only hurt regular Iranians and not the regime. While Iranians complain about Trump, many have blamed their government. From the Associated Press:

Many blame U.S. President Donald Trump and his maximalist policy on Iran, which has seen him pull out of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and levy punishing U.S. sanctions on the country.

But alongside Trump, many Iranians blame their own government, which has careened from one economic disaster to another since its Islamic Revolution 40 years ago.

“The economic war is a reality and people are under extreme pressure,” said Shiva Keshavarz, a 22-year-old accountant soon to be married.

She said government leaders “keep telling us to be strong and endure the pressures, but we can already hear the sound of our bones breaking.”

Rouhani and the regime will not back down. I mean, they will not even go to the table with the Trump administration. Over course, they did with President Barack Obama’s administration because those officials bent over backward to accommodate the regime.

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Comments

Is Rouhani one of the Dem candidates for prez? He sounds just like them.

“Weird. The U.S. has held open the door for diplomacy, but Iran refuses to come to the table.”

Same story with the Palis.

Must have something to do with Islam.

    Joe-dallas in reply to pfg. | June 25, 2019 at 11:54 am

    More of a case of appeasement – the land of the Philistines, currently inhabited by Jordanians who now call themselves palestinians,
    The iranians who liked the bribes paid to them by obuma
    Nazi’s who were appeased by Chamberlin

    oldgoat36 in reply to pfg. | June 25, 2019 at 1:49 pm

    What this really translates to is how the Democrats operate. The diplomacy is “here is what I want” and if you don’t give them what they want, then you aren’t working in good faith.

    The National Socialists do the same thing. Their idea of bipartisan measures is when they propose their way of “fixing” issues, and some token RINOs agree to it. When was the last time you can recall of a real compromise with the left on any significant or even relatively minor issue?

    Iran expects Kerry’s promises of Trump being defeated or removed from office to happen. Kerry is guilty of undermining Trump’s administrative efforts by meeting with them and telling them how Iran can get it’s way. Kerry should be charged with his criminal behavior, but he got away with it before during Viet Nam, and will probably get away with it again. The deal which Obama gave Iran was a joke, but it was Kerry’s shining moment, he can’t have that go down in flames.

michael.scott3245 | June 25, 2019 at 11:12 am

So now Iran can lie to us right off the bat instead of having to waste time on diplomatic niceties. Time saver.

    JusticeDelivered in reply to michael.scott3245. | June 25, 2019 at 11:45 am

    It seems like I read somewhere that the US had decommissioned our neutron bombs, for some reason I suspect that they were replaced with a new improved version.

    The beauty of a neutron bomb is that removes all life, especially the two legged varmints, while leaving the real estate in good condition.

    Iran could finally serve a useful purpose, as an example.

      They were ditched under Reagan. Intended mostly as a deterrent to the Soviets invading Europe and our European allies had no desire for even more nukes there. The USSR was rapidly disintegrating we had already rolled of other tactical missiles along the Soviet border. We had other irons in the fire as well (SDI and oil prices). We know that ended.

“means the permanent closure of the doors of diplomacy.”

That happened when the Persians attacked the embassy.

Just to note how big a deal that was; not even the Nazis did that. Hell, not even the Mongols did that. If the US isn’t falling all over itself in a rush to talk to the Persians, they know who they can blame, and it ain’t DJT.

Whereas Libya repented and reformed, Iran has persisted and progressed. Why empathize with Iran? Why isn’t Iran Gaddafied… Planned? There are numerous precedents for social justice.

He slipped out of their trap, found remedies (cyber attack and sanctions) that do not kill ordinary people, and let the whole world know that he cares more about Iranian citizens than the crazy Iranian government. So they are upset. Darn.

The notion that sanctions hurt ordinary people worse than the government is untrue. The situation is like the Obama administration paying to put up barriers to keep people off the Mall. We all knew better.

Of course, I have to wonder what they really are yelling about, the cyberattack, or the sanctions. There is such telling silence on one topic.

    tz in reply to Valerie. | June 25, 2019 at 1:53 pm

    Sanctions do hurt the ordinary people. Remember Madeline Albright when asked about th 500,000 Iraqi children who died because they couldn’t get medicine – she said it was “worth it”. Or look at Venezuela, Guaido apparently is skimming even before coming to power and the people are still suffering.

    If Sanctions only hurt the leadership, then why all the fuss over the BDS movement – don’t they just hurt the Government of Israel?

    My problem is when it comes to Pelosi and Schumer, or Mexico, Trump keeps calling measures off when they want to talk and haven’t performed. And Iran has a point that there was a multinational agreement that Trump unilaterally withdrew from but is insisting the other countries go along with it. The problem is Iran has zero reason to trust that if they use diplomacy and create another agreement, that Trump won’t just decide to cancel it too.

      artichoke in reply to tz. | June 25, 2019 at 2:56 pm

      We withdrew from the Iran deal legally within its terms. Iran has no legal ground for complaint, even though of course they’re not happy that Trump stopped the insane concessions Obama had made.

      We are not to blame for what a country does to its own citizens in response to the sanctions. If people want to be free, they have to fight for it. The #1 reason more the world’s population aren’t free is because they won’t fight for it and even when they do, they are fighting AGAINST something rather than fighting FOR something. Even when they win, the new boss is same as the old boss.

Here’s another negotiation that just took a knee to the groin from Trump:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-25/chinese-banks-tumble-after-us-threatens-cut-them-us-financial-system

Odd how little reporting there was about the vast street protests in Hong Kong last week. It was reported that over 3 million people marched protest China’s clamping down on HK liberties. That represents over 60% of the population. I wonder how this is affecting Taiwan’s thinking.

HK isn’t Tiananmen Square. You can’t roll the tanks in or start shooting and tear gassing. Ji has a major problem developing at home. The Chinese are moving their money out and will probably start leaving soon. Maybe they know something about centralized planning that our own globalists don’t?

    artichoke in reply to Pasadena Phil. | June 25, 2019 at 12:51 pm

    You’re right HK isn’t Tiananmen Square. That was the very center of the Chinese government, with the most important national buildings around it. Sort of like the Mall in DC, but much more important and central.

    Our own veterans found out how tolerant we are of such occupations, in the Bonus March. They were shot almost immediately.

    Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region that’s always been hostile to China. So China has plenty of patience on this one.

    Not sure that any of it is relevant to the situation with Iran.

      Take a look at recent events on a global map. China’s latest economic data was abysmal. We defiantly sent more ships through the China Sea. Hong Kong protests. Today, 2 major Chinese banks are threatened with being cut-off from SWIFT for ignoring sanctions against NorKo. Things are unraveling fast for Emperor Ji. He really doesn’t need the HK problem right now, a problem which might empower the already grumbling peasants.

      Then there is the Russian angle. They are struggling to take control of the OPEC nations’ oil policies. Two tankers get attacked. Who knows what really happened but suddenly we suddenly move more assets into the ME (near the access point to the Black Sea). Yesterday, a nuke-carrying Russian destroyer, now possibly cut off from its home port, arrives in Havana threatening another Cuban missile crisis.

      While we Americans are playing Family Feud in the kitchen, a much bigger game is being played out. The house of cards non-US global economy is near collapse and getting weaker while we become stronger and less dependent on the world. And we are moving big assets to important strategic points that pose a threat to our two biggest adversaries.

      Mexico is today moving 15,000 troops to our border ostensibly to help us stop the illegal immigration. Another negotiation possibly flipped to our favor.

      In light of all of those things, you don’t think HK is relevant? Emperor Ji, although not at risk of being replaced, is still getting bogged down with his own problems at home related to everything that is going on.

      Do you think Trump’s negotiating strength on all fronts is deteriorating or improving? You don’t think HK matters?

        oldgoat36 in reply to Pasadena Phil. | June 25, 2019 at 1:55 pm

        The world knows how the Democrats will fight Trump on every single front for them, with our political division growing worse thanks mostly to the left who are going off the deep end, the world is looking at how to take advantage of it all and bring the US down. They know the left is doing all it can to help our enemies just by being the crazy leftists they are.

          Consider the following for the next 2-3 days. Capital flight is a major problem for China, Russia and increasingly, the EU. Most of the world has negative interest rates (I want you to lend me $100k and pay me for taking your money). In contrast, we have a problem trying to stop everyone in the world trying to move here, Our economy gets stronger while we grow increasingly independent from the rest of the world.

          Now get back to me Friday and tell me whether you think the Dems helped themselves in the debates. Are we winning or losing?

          artichoke in reply to oldgoat36. | June 26, 2019 at 1:49 am

          China has backed at least the Clintons (remember Charlie Trie?) and Obama, the Manchurian Candidate.

          They’ve been promoting this leftist craziness in our country for a few decades. I didn’t realize it until we had enough of Obama to see what was going on.

        artichoke in reply to Pasadena Phil. | June 25, 2019 at 3:03 pm

        You might be right that Trump is happy enough to have HK acting up and causing disruption for China. It is a center of financial flows, even as a lot of the flow of goods has moved to Shanghai and maybe also up the Pearl River to Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou.

        If Trump can flip China, that will just be another one of his miracles. He’s already flipped Saudi Arabia, in his first few months.

        It’s astonishing how fast China starts choking when we cut off its flow of our intellectual property. Maybe we really did drain their best brains over here since the 1980’s, because they’re seeming rather second-class and needy these days.

          Tiananmen Square was an internal event in a city with little international activity other than tourism. It was a symbolic protest concerning human rights.

          Hong Kong is an international center of great financial significance. It’s a world stage where interests are co-mingled. It is an iconic symbol of the free world being extinguished in “the Chinese century”.

          Hong Kong citizens are emblematic of what it means for the US to be eclipsed by China. Their vision of equality cannot be brought about by any other way than by brutal oppression and making everyone poor and needy.

          Hong Kong is the free world right now.

Iran you are right. This is not the time for diplomacy. This is the time for praying

What we have here is a cornered rat and a big ole American standing blocking the exit with the worlds largest baseball bat.

Your move Iran. Guess wrong and poof.

inspectorudy | June 25, 2019 at 1:33 pm

Diplomacy 101. !. Start off chanting “Death to America” over and over again just before a diplomatic meeting. 2. Call the leader of the other side stupid and idiotic. 3. Shoot down an unmanned drone over international air space and then blame it on the other side. 4. Hang several homosexuals to show the world who is really crazy. 5. Have the top Sunni imam tell the world that beating your wife is not only ok but expected and that no islamic woman can leave her home without her husband’s permission and have an escort. These are just a few things that make diplomacy go smoother.

Hmmm. And yet somehow the kidnapping and holding under threat of horrific murder of U.S. citizens for 444 days in 1979 and 1980, managed NOT to close the path of diplomacy with Iran.

Sanctions unforgivable. Crimes against humanity, just another day ending in Y. Sanctions unforgivable. Crimes against humanity, just another day ending in Y…

I think I’m beginning to see where we went wrong.

    tz in reply to McGehee. | June 25, 2019 at 2:04 pm

    Yes, the Shah was a brutal dictator with secret police that tortured people (not unlike Somoza), but he was OUR brutal dictator, and it was during the cold war.

    We are dealing with Saudi Arabia that used a bone saw on a journalist and beheads gays and 18 of th 9/11 terrorists that ACTUALLY KILLED 3000 Americans. Maybe we should announce so the area will be cleared and turn Mecca into a glowing smoking crater?

    And China that has transplant tourism to shrink its concentration camps for the Falun Gong and Uhrguirs. They also steal our intellectual property and kidnap our buisnessmen when deals go bad, and are building far more dangerous weapons and making moves in the South China Sea.

Iran is like an endless corridor of doors, all shut

Odd… I distinctly remember thinking in Jan ’81 as part of a military task force (We called it the Persian Excursion…), that “diplomatic relations” between our countries had soured roughly 440 days before that…