Iraq-Iran Petroleum Trade: Whose Sanctions are they Anyway………..
“Even as the United States imposes new sanctions on Iran, one of the biggest gaps in the American strategy is on full display here in Iraq, where hundreds of millions of dollars in crude oil and refined products are smuggled over the scenic mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan every year….. The scale and organization of the trade has raised concerns among American officials here, said one senior American official in northern Iraq, who would speak about the Iran oil trade only anonymously, following diplomatic ground rules. They fear that proceeds from the sales could be flowing to corrupt Iraqi politicians and benefiting the Iranian government, even as the United States has approved new unilateral sanctions against Tehran, imposing penalties on foreign entities that sell refined petroleum products to Iran…....”
The N Y Times doesn’t seem to get it: the sanctions on refined petroleum products are unilateral American sanctions against Iran. They were imposed solely under pressure from the Republican Party and the rabid portions of the Israeli Lobby, in a tough election year. Nobody expects them to harm anyone but the Iranian people, and only for a short time before refinery expansions kick in. They are not UN approved, and they are not binding to any other country’s institutions or citizens. Other countries’ citizens and companies do not have any legal obligation to observe them.
Cheers
mhg
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