Threading the Iranian Needle: of Sanctions, Nominal Targets, and Real Victims……………
“This time, however, there's a new ingredient in the diplomatic mix: Iran's political opposition, which bloomed as the "green movement" during June's disputed presidential election and has proved to be more resilient than leaders in either Tehran or Washington expected. Diplomats, who requested anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said they're trying to craft new punishments that won't backfire against opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but widen fissures within the regime and its principal security force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "Everyone agrees that we have to be very careful when we tailor our sanctions, not to let those sanctions have an impact" on the Iranian population at large, a senior European diplomat said. The opposition "has become much more of a political movement than before. This is developing (in areas of Iran) even outside of Tehran," he said. Broad sanctions against Iran's oil exports and imports of refined petroleum products, which could devastate the country's struggling economy, are off the table for now. They're opposed in any case by China, which is the least enthusiastic about new sanctions of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council……………” McClatchy News
The UN Security Council is not facing an election year, unlike the US Senate. It also is not responsible for ‘Political Action Committees’ breathing down their necks. It looks like they are trying to thread a needle in the delicate Iran situation: harming the regime without harming the people. They probably have smaller and more agile fingers than the clumsy Senate.
It may be all a myth, a publicity stunt, the idea of sanctions that do not harm people. Sanctions and punitive economic measures almost always hurt the most vulnerable: we found that out with the Iraq sanctions and imposed economic punishment.
Cheers
mhg
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