Iran to react if US prevents lifting arms embargo as per nuclear deal: President Rouhani

[QWECXZ]

Agree that Shah signed his own fate by exiling Khomeini

All the discontent and anger from rich-poor gap that built up inside Iran basically got channeled out by Khomeini who was now exiled and feared no consequences living outside of Iran.

I will say that I don't think anyone at that time could have guessed that it would be Khomeini who would become as powerful as he did. All that energy had to go somewhere, Khomeini was in the right place at the right time.

He should've killed Khomeini. Possibly in an accident. Khomeini had expressed his wish for velayat-e faghih long before being sent to exile.

He had no mercy for bright and well-educated Iranians who had communist ideas at the time. He should've had no mercy for Khomeini either. He didn't kill Khomeini because he was a religious figure.

 

[mangekyo]

I will say that I don't think anyone at that time could have guessed that it would be Khomeini who would become as powerful as he did. All that energy had to go somewhere, Khomeini was in the right place at the right time.

Most people didnt even know who Khomeini was

 

[Aspen]

Most people didnt even know who Khomeini was

Exactly, I think his reach was greatly underestimated at the time. We have the benefit of hindsight but they didn't.

 

[QWECXZ]

Just watch the video, it has nothing to do with Carters lack of support to Shah, it has more to do with Carters support to Khomeini, and his plan to topple the Shah.

I agree he had too much pride and became delusional. Iran had a smaller gap between the rich and poor. Students were paid pocket money. An uneducated employed man had enough wage to feed his entire family. The billionaire/millionaire to poor ratio was a lot less compared to US.

I was not alive at that time, but I have seen videos and pictures of backward Iran was before Reza shah.

Read some about the white revolution:

The White Revolution consisted of 19 elements that were introduced over a period of 16 years, with the first 6 introduced on January 9, 1963,[9] and put to a national referendum on January 26, 1963.

1. Land Reforms Program and Abolishing "Feudalism": The government bought the land during the Iranian Land Reform from the feudal landlords at what was considered to be a fair price and sold it to the peasants at 30% below the market value, with the loan being payable over 25 years at very low interest rates. This made it possible for 1.5 million peasant families, who had once been little more than slaves, to own the lands that they had been cultivating all their lives. Given that the average size of a peasant family was 5, the land reforms program brought freedom to approximately 9 million people, or 40% of Iran's population.
2. Nationalization of Forests and Pasturelands[10]: Many measures were introduced, not only to protect the national resources and stop the destruction of forests and pasturelands, but also to further develop and cultivate them. More than 9 million trees were planted in 26 regions, creating 70,000 acres (280 km²) of "green belts" around cities and on the borders of the major highways.
3. Privatization of the Government Owned Enterprises[10], selling shares in manufacturing plants and factories to the public and the old feudal lords, thus creating a whole new class of factory owners who could now help to industrialize the country.
4. Profit Sharing for industrial workers in private sector enterprises, giving the factory workers and employees 20% share of the net profits of the places where they worked and securing bonuses based on higher productivity or reductions in costs.
5. Extending the Right to Vote to Women, who previously did not enjoy this right.[10] This measure was criticized by some of the clergy.
6. Formation of the Literacy Corps, so that those who had a high school diploma and were required to serve their country as soldiers could do so by fighting illiteracy in the villages.[10] In 1963 approximately 2/3 of the population was illiterate, with 1/3 found mainly in the capital city of Tehran.
7. Formation of the Health Corps to extend public health care throughout the villages and rural regions of Iran.[10] In 3 years, almost 4,500 medical groups were trained; nearly 10 million cases were treated by the Corps.
8. Formation of the Reconstruction and Development Corps to teach the villagers the modern methods and techniques of farming and keeping livestock.[10] Agricultural production between 1964 and 1970 increased by 80% in tonnage and 67% in value.
9. Formation of the Houses of Equity where 5 village elders would be elected by the villagers, for a period of 3 years, to act as arbitrators in order to help settle minor offences and disputes. By 1977 there were 10,358 Houses of Equity serving over 10 million people living in over 19,000 villages across the country.
10. Nationalization of all Water Resources, introduction of projects and policies in order to conserve and benefit from Iran's limited water resources. Many dams were constructed and five more were under construction in 1978. It was as a result of these measures that the area of land under irrigation increased from 2 million acres (8,000 km²), in 1968, to 5.6 million in 1977.
11. Urban and Rural Modernization and Reconstruction with the help of the Reconstruction and Development Corps. Building of public baths, schools and libraries; installing water pumps and power generators for running water and electricity.
12. Didactic Reforms that improved the quality of education by diversifying the curriculum in order to adapt to the necessities of life in the modern world.
13. Workers' Right to Own Shares in the Industrial Complexes where they worked by turning industrial units, with 5 years history and over, into public companies, where up to 99% of the shares in the state-owned enterprises and 49% of the shares of the private companies would be offered for sale to the workers of the establishment at first and then to the general public.
14. Price Stabilization and campaign against unreasonable profiteering (1975). Owners of factories and large chain stores were heavily fined, with some being imprisoned and other's licenses being revoked. Sanctions were imposed on multi-national foreign companies and tons of merchandise stored for speculative purposes were confiscated and sold to consumers at fixed prices.
15. Free and Compulsory Education and a daily free meal for all children from kindergarten to 14 years of age. Primary schools were built in hundreds of villages that previously did not have one.[10] In 1978, 25% of Iranians were enrolled in public schools alone. In that same year there were 185,000 students of both sexes studying in Iran's universities. In addition to the above there were over 100,000 students pursuing their studies abroad, of which 50,000 were enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States.
16. Free Food for Needy Mothers and for all newborn babies up to the age of two.
17. Introduction of Social Security and National Insurance for all Iranians. The National Insurance system provided for up to 100% of the wages during retirement.
18. Stable and Reasonable Cost of Renting or Buying of Residential Properties (1977). Controls were placed on land prices and various forms of land speculation.
19. Introduction of Measures to Fight against Corruption within the bureaucracy. The Imperial Inspection Commission was founded, consisting of representatives from administrative bodies and people of proven integrity.

Why would Carter support that when the US was happy with the status quo? The American companies were quite active in Iran. The majority of our oil was owned by the American companies after the coup under the Seven Sisters consortium. The Shah had an extremely strong anti-communism stance. Why would the US want to topple him? What else could they want from the Shah?

Iran's first GINI coefficient according to the World Bank was reported to be 50.2 in 1969. Our last GINI coefficient before the revolution was 46 in 1974. Our today's GINI coefficient is 40. It was 34 during Ahmadinejad's presidency. So, no. You can't claim that the gap between the rich and the poor was smaller. Also, our development indicators were terrible. Education, healthcare, urbanization, etc. Stop believing what your parents have told you and rely on statistics and you will have a more realistic picture about Iran.

Man, the world changes a lot after decades. The Sheikhdoms of the Emirates were nothing 40 years ago, look where Dubai is now for example. You can't judge development based on small regions like one city or a small country. You should look at the overall picture of Iran.

I have read the White Revolution a thousand times. It was a controversial plan that I agree with the goals of it, but I don't know much about its execution. Not to mention that his land reforms plan was strongly criticized by the people. Farmers thought that they were basically owned by the central government instead of the feudalists, only with less support. He also angered the clerics as they lost a lot of farmlands in his reforms.

 

[925boy]

arent you the same guy going back and forth with turkish members over some lowlife in turkey hanging his british underwear on his balcony ?
most of your posts make us ashamed, really.

He is still very good at detailed counter points though. I dunno about this particular thread but usually he's quite sharp and good at destroying poor arguments. lol. seriously though.

 

[mangekyo]

Why would Carter support that when the US was happy with the status quo? The American companies were quite active in Iran. The majority of our oil was owned by the American companies after the coup under the Seven Sisters consortium. The Shah had an extremely strong anti-communism stance. Why would the US want to topple him? What else could they want from the Shah?

US started to lose more and more influence over Iran as Iran became more independent and the Shahs pride and ego grew more. He even banned some US companies from operating in Iran, because he wanted to replace them with national companies. He had already increased the price of oil and was planning to increase the price even more until he would stop selling oil altogether. I remember his speech where he said we sell them oil and they make products with our oil and sell it to use for 100 times the price. Base ma kar kardim cheshm abia khordan. Most dont know this, but Shah did actually at one point buy a lot of arms from USSR when US had angered him, he said mage amrika babaye mane

Iran's first GINI coefficient according to the World Bank was reported to be 50.2 in 1969. Our last GINI coefficient before the revolution was 46 in 1974. Our today's GINI coefficient is 40. It was 34 during Ahmadinejad's presidency. So, no. You can't claim that the gap between the rich and the poor was smaller. Also, our development indicators were terrible. Education, healthcare, urbanization, etc. Stop believing what your parents have told you and rely on statistics and you will have a more realistic picture about Iran.

Again that is unfair to say, we did not have enough educated people, we didn't have the teachers, the nurses the doctors etc to build enough hospitals and schools, we had to start somewhere. I am not repeating what my parents tell me, as you see I am both supporter of Shah and I also support Islamic Republic. I have done my own research.

I have read the White Revolution a thousand times. It was a controversial plan that I agree with the goals of it, but I don't know much about its execution. Not to mention that his land reforms plan was strongly criticized by the people. Farmers thought that they were basically owned by the central government instead of the feudalists, only with less support. He also angered the clerics as they lost a lot of farmlands in his reforms.

His land reform plans were strongly critisized mainly by the clergy because traditionally the clergy would own the land and people would work for the clergy, he basically reduced the power the clergy had in our society.

He is still very good at detailed counter points though. I dunno about this particular thread but usually he's quite sharp and good at destroying poor arguments. lol. seriously though.

Bro, it's because it's ridiculous to arrest someone over hanging a towel with the flag of a fellow ally country. GB and Turkey are allies, they are both in NATO, they work together. And they compared this to an Iranian hanging an Israeli flag in Iran.

 

[QWECXZ]

US started to lose more and more influence over Iran as Iran became more independent and the Shahs pride and ego grew more. He even banned some US companies from operating in Iran, because he wanted to replace them with national companies. He had already increased the price of oil and was planning to increase the price even more until he would stop selling oil altogether. I remember his speech where he said we sell them oil and they make products with our oil and sell it to use for 100 times the price. Base ma kar kardim cheshm abia khordan. Most dont know this, but Shah did actually at one point buy a lot of arms from USSR when US had angered him, he said mage amrika babaye mane

That's not completely true. Listen to Dariush Homayoon's interview. I cite him a lot because he is honest and he's one of my favorite politicians from that era. He said once (I will find the interview for you later and I will send you its link on YouTube) that Shah told him several times that if the British and the Americans don't want him anymore, he will leave. The Shah escaped Iran several times. Most notably he escaped from Iran before the coup and was brought back by the Americans.

What arms did we buy from the USSR? Missiles? Jet fighters? Tanks? Air defense systems? Helicopters? Ships? I'm not saying there was no military deal at all, but all of our major arms purchases were done with the Americans and the British mostly.

Your argument for the price of oil is not convincing in my opinion because you forget that the American companies were shareholders in our oil industry. So, raising oil prices benefited American oil companies as well. It might've hurt your average American citizen, but the US is capitalist in nature. So, by raising oil prices, he was in fact benefiting American shareholders of our oil as well. Not to mention that he spent a lot of that money on buying goods and services from the US itself.

Again that is unfair to say, we did not have enough educated people, we didn't have the teachers, the nurses the doctors etc to build enough hospitals and schools, we had to start somewhere. I am not repeating what my parents tell me, as you see I am both supporter of Shah and I also support Islamic Republic. I have done my own research.

We were talking about the gap between the rich and the poor. The GINI coefficient measures that. You don't need to have educated people to reduce the gap. I'm just saying that Iran under his reign wasn't amazing either. We weren't like Europe or the US unlike what some radical supporters of the Shah like to say.

I also support both the Shah and the Islamic Republic. I believe any system ruling over a country is inevitably forced to improve the country to keep itself in power.

His land reform plans were strongly critisized mainly by the clergy because traditionally the clergy would own the land and people would work for the clergy, he basically reduced the power the clergy had in our society.

Yes, but he also increased the power of Islam in Iran. Again, Dariush Homayoon says in one of his interviews that the number of mosques rapidly grew in Iran after Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became autocratic. We had like 5,000 mosques and it suddenly grew to 40,000 or something like mushrooms.

The farmers weren't happy either because they weren't used to the new system. They had to pay tax. They had to sell their products to proxies. It was a system that they couldn't understand well. That's why Khosrow Golesorkhi's defenses resonated with many people at the time.

 

[mangekyo]

That's not completely true. Listen to Dariush Homayoon's interview. I cite him a lot because he is honest and he's one of my favorite politicians from that era. He said once (I will find the interview for you later and I will send you its link on YouTube) that Shah told him several times that if the British and the Americans don't want him anymore, he will leave. The Shah escaped Iran several times. Most notably he escaped from Iran before the coup and was brought back by the Americans.

Don't you mean he said he will leave if the people don't want him? Send me the link when you find it. But you should watch the video I sent you, his book is also very interesting.

Your argument for the price of oil is not convincing in my opinion because you forget that the American companies were shareholders in our oil industry. So, raising oil prices benefited American oil companies as well. It might've hurt your average American citizen, but the US is capitalist in nature. So, by raising oil prices, he was in fact benefiting American shareholders of our oil as well. Not to mention that he spent a lot of that money on buying goods and services from the US itself.

Well, it surely cant be a coincidence that the hostilities between US and Iran started after Iran became more independent and the Shah distanced himself more and more from the US. In the beginning, he had to buy US goods and services, he had to sell our oil for almost free, because he had no other choice. That changed with time. There is an OPEC speech where he suggests they should stop selling oil altogether and instead refine it, and build petrochemical products and sell it to the US and West instead.

We were talking about the gap between the rich and the poor. The GINI coefficient measures that. You don't need to have educated people to reduce the gap. I'm just saying that Iran under his reign wasn't amazing either. We weren't like Europe or the US unlike what some radical supporters of the Shah like to say.

I also support both the Shah and the Islamic Republic. I believe any system ruling over a country is inevitably forced to improve the country to keep itself in power.

I was referring to your comment regarding education and healthcare. I don't believe in media when they cover Iran. Just as its filled with anti Iranian propaganda now, they did the same against the Shah. So i cant take any statistics seriously. Throughout elementary school, high school and college, the only thing the school ever covered about Iran was that

1. Pahlavis were dictators, all Iranians were living in poverty and only the Shah and his family was rich.
2. Iran forcefully sent children to war during the Iran-Iraq war were they were used as mass human waves of children to run over tanks.
3.They stone women in Iran.

My grandfather who recently passed away, god bless his soul. He was an uneducated truck driver, he had the sole income in the family, and he drove a Benz and sent 5 children through college.

Yes, but he also increased the power of Islam in Iran. Again, Dariush Homayoon says in one of his interviews that the number of mosques rapidly grew in Iran after Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became autocratic. We had like 5,000 mosques and it suddenly grew to 40,000 or something like mushrooms.

Yeah the Shah was a muslim himself, unlike what most people will tell you. So he didn't have anything against the clergy. I don't think he ever predicted they would try to topple him.

The farmers weren't happy either because they weren't used to the new system. They had to pay tax. They had to sell their products to proxies. It was a system that they couldn't understand well. That's why Khosrow Golesorkhi's defenses resonated with many people at the time.

I can understand that. But it was for the better good.

 

[ChennaiDude]

Trump will win again anyway Iran shouldnt care who is in office just continue its plans

Trust me- The only way Trump is going to win is if USA finds a vaccination for Covid19 before the elections- he is done, and he also knows it- But again as an American of Indian origin-I want Iran to be successful and I know that the common people of Iran just want to provide for their families and be successful. Iran needs to take its rightful place in its region and world and I think it will happen.

 

[QWECXZ]

Don't you mean he said he will leave if the people don't want him? Send me the link when you find it. But you should watch the video I sent you, his book is also very interesting.

No, Dariush Homaysoon says "He [the Shah] had reached a point that he said if they don't want me [the British], I would go. When do they want me to go?". Here's his interview on YouTube. He mentions it @2:02

It's a very good interview. I would watch all of his interviews on YouTube if I were you. They are so informative about the truth of those times.

Well, it surely cant be a coincidence that the hostilities between US and Iran started after Iran became more independent and the Shah distanced himself more and more from the US. In the beginning, he had to buy US goods and services, he had to sell our oil for almost free, because he had no other choice. That changed with time. There is an OPEC speech where he suggests they should stop selling oil altogether and instead refine it, and build petrochemical products and sell it to the US and West instead.

There were no hostilities between Iran and the United States. What hostilities are you talking about exactly? Please be specific. I think you are being too vague and you are repeating the propaganda of the radical Shah lovers who worship him like a God. But the truth is that the Shah was never hostile to the US at all.

I was referring to your comment regarding education and healthcare. I don't believe in media when they cover Iran. Just as its filled with anti Iranian propaganda now, they did the same against the Shah. So i cant take any statistics seriously. Throughout elementary school, high school and college, the only thing the school ever covered about Iran was that

1. Pahlavis were dictators, all Iranians were living in poverty and only the Shah and his family was rich.
2. Iran forcefully sent children to war during the Iran-Iraq war were they were used as mass human waves of children to run over tanks.
3.They stone women in Iran.

Mainstream media always cover the things they want others to believe. Particularly the Western media always try to demonize non-Western countries and portray them poorly to prove to themselves that they are better than them. That's why I don't trust them. But you can always conduct your independent research based on raw evidences.

My grandfather who recently passed away, god bless his soul. He was an uneducated truck driver, he had the sole income in the family, and he drove a Benz and sent 5 children through college.

May he rest in peace. But do you think that lifestyle is the way to go? I mean assume that Iran sells 20 million barrels of oil per day. Do you think Iran will become advanced that way?

Yeah the Shah was a muslim himself, unlike what most people will tell you. So he didn't have anything against the clergy. I don't think he ever predicted they would try to topple him.

I can understand that. But it was for the better good.

Not only the Shah was a Muslim, but he completely ignored the danger of Muslims and the presence of their ideas in rural areas. The majority of Iranians lived in rural areas in 1970s, unlike now that our urbanization rate has passed 75%. The Shah didn't know his country well unfortunately. Probably because he never wanted to know it as he didn't like the truth.

People never understand the concept of the better good. They care only about short term developments. Common people think like this: "If something makes me richer now, it's good. If something makes me poor now but it can make our future generation rich, then screw it. I don't care". It is the responsibility of the rulers to suppress people's greed when it is about the better good, even with force if necessary.

 

[TheImmortal]

I will just say a few things on that matter the Shah was in charge at a time where Western imperialists had no appetite for independent thinking satellite and puppets let alone less things like ToT and helping country’s growth. That was because at the time the Western world was growing at a rapid pace and the need for developing countries to grow was low. Complete opposite of today where global growth is much needed, but subdued. A world where China and India need to continue expanding at a rapid rate.

Anyway, my point is if Shah was in charge today or let’s say since the late 90’s he could easily barter for ToT through all facets of the economy as the western countries are desperate to establish trade/growth in other countries. There was a study done that quantified the amount the US suffers from US embargo on Iran in terms of lost trade potential.

Anyway again Shah could be very independent during this time, but not back in 60’s and 70’s when US and Soviet Union expected countries to be puppets. Thus he was part of the wrong era for a new rising world leader.

Also similar to Adolf Hitler, Shah suffered from mental health issues that at the time adequate treatment and detection was not advanced like it is today. Thus fueled Shahs paranoia that he had enemies at the gates that needed to be brutally suppressed.

The ironic thing is Khomeini never wanted to become in power and his relationship with Shah was not as strained as one would believe. In fact I think I remember reading that Khomeini at one point reached out to Shah to establish a partnership to better address growing concerns in Iranian society.

Shah rejected this and the anger within iranian society continued to build and build which ultimately led to where we are today. It’s a bit of a mute point, because Shah would have still died from cancer wether a revolution happened or not. Iran would be throw into turmoil without a successor. Unlike England, Iran doesn’t have precedent of a female Queen leading a society. So who would have replaced the Shah? I guess Iran could have turned to a full parliament instead of the puppet parliament it had during the Shah.

Nonetheless the Republic is what Iran has and can reform. There is a coming crisis when the current Rahbar passes away. The Republics strength will be tested to the core.

 

[mangekyo]

No, Dariush Homaysoon says "He [the Shah] had reached a point that he said if they don't want me [the British], I would go. When do they want me to go?". Here's his interview on YouTube. He mentions it @2:02

​

It's a very good interview. I would watch all of his interviews on YouTube if I were you. They are so informative about the truth of those times.

He is saying that the Shah feared the British and Americans, and he would leave if they asked him. I think Homayoon is talking about Shahs earlier days. The Shah realized that the Americans and British wanted him gone, and he wasn't planning to go anywhere.

Look at this interview from 12:33-13:37

There were no hostilities between Iran and the United States. What hostilities are you talking about exactly? Please be specific. I think you are being too vague and you are repeating the propaganda of the radical Shah lovers who worship him like a God. But the truth is that the Shah was never hostile to the US at all.

I don't know if the Shah had love for the west in his earlier days, or if he was acting because he had no other choice. But I am sure he had deep hatred for them in the end. Whether he hated them from the beginning, or if it was because they didn't accept him in their club, I don't know. If I were to guess, I would guess he hated them from the beginning. You really need to watch his interviews and you will understand why I say this.

Look at this interview from 0:37-1:37

I never listen to shah lovers because they have no idea about politics in general and know even less about Iran. They just support the Shah because they hate Islam, they don't even know that the Shah was a Muslim himself. Why listen to Shah lovers, Shah haters? What better evidence can there be than the mans own words?

I have probably seen all his interviews, even those who are banned from youtube. When I say there were hostilities between him and the US, I am basing it on his own words. Not on anything I have heard from anyone. How can you say there were no hostilities between him and the US, when the Shah literally talks about war between US/West and Iran?

Not only the Shah was a Muslim, but he completely ignored the danger of Muslims and the presence of their ideas in rural areas. The majority of Iranians lived in rural areas in 1970s, unlike now that our urbanization rate has passed 75%. The Shah didn't know his country well unfortunately. Probably because he never wanted to know it as he didn't like the truth.

People never understand the concept of the better good. They care only about short term developments. Common people think like this: "If something makes me richer now, it's good. If something makes me poor now but it can make our future generation rich, then screw it. I don't care". It is the responsibility of the rulers to suppress people's greed when it is about the better good, even with force if necessary.

Sometimes I wonder if Shah deliberately left Iran, because he had cancer and knew he had little time left, he didn't believe a Woman/Farah was fit to rule Iran, and knew they would eat and spit out his son, so he let Khomeini and Islamists take over in order for the country not to fall in the hands of the imperialists which was his biggest fear.

 

[Myself]

Sometimes I wonder if Shah deliberately left Iran, because he had cancer and knew he had little time left, he didn't believe a Woman/Farah was fit to rule Iran, and knew they would eat and spit out his son, so he let Khomeini and Islamists take over in order for the country not to fall in the hands of the imperialists which was his biggest fear.

Don’t even think otherwise! The same way he was thinking about some of the corrupted military leaders.
His biggest mistake was the so called Land Reform; by which he separated his monarchy from the real and loyal supporting forces, i.e, the giant land lords across the nation. They were the local people- based authorities (unlike what most of the new generation of Iranians think) who had been always the main supporters of monarchy in Iran for centuries.

 

[mangekyo]

Don’t even think otherwise! The same way he was thinking about some of the corrupted military leaders.
His biggest mistake was the so called Land Reform; by which he separated his monarchy from the real and loyal supporting forces, i.e, the giant land lords across the nation. They were the local people- based authorities (unlike what most of the new generation of Iranians think) who had been always the main supporters of monarchy in Iran for centuries.

Shah supporters think the Shah loved the west and hated Muslims. But the Shah hated the imperialists and the west in general. He was dealing with them because he had no other choice. He was a Muslim, a nationalist who truly believed Iranians are superior to westerners. That is what he was demonstrating with his 2500 year celebration of Iranian history. When he was dying, he knew there were only 2 options left for Iran,

1. The country falls in the hands of the imperialists, (the west who had overthrown his own father, or the communist who he possibly hated even more)
2. The country falls in the hands of Iranian clergy.

He was a Muslim himself, he respected the clergy. If you were the Shah, a nationalist Muslim Iranian who hated the imperialists. Would you hand over the country to the imperialists, or would you hand it over to Iranian clergy?

 

[Kastor]

Good point about the Shah's precarious view of the west, as always we played for time, and that's what he was doing. However, his ego got in the way, he started talking about distancing himself from the West and that's when they caught on that he was becoming too powerful. He was a sad and lost man at the end, as if knowing what a mistake he had made....he could not be consoled. In any case, I've been saying we live in a rough neighborhood, and our amateur politicians are learning that these western powers have written the rule book that the world plays with. So as long as they don't remedy this, we will be under sanctions.....the west hasn't lost anything in the last 40 yrs but we have lost quite a lot.