Treasury slaps sanctions on Iran after ballistic missile launch

[war&peace]

Iran dismisses Trump's 'ranting' and vows more missile tests
Tehran, however, responded by saying the moves were in violation of the nuclear agreement, calling them "illegal" and "extraterritorial."
The sanctions are "contrary to the obligations of the United States," according to the country's official news agency IRNA, which cited the foreign ministry.
Iran's missile program is purely for "defensive purposes," the foreign ministry said.
Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Friday the White House would continue responding to any Iranian provocations going forward. But he said the moves illustrate the pitfalls of the nuclear agreement.
"Today's sanctions really represent a very, very strong stance against the actions that Iran has been taking, and make it very clear that the deal that they struck previously was not in the best interest of this country, and that President Trump is going to do everything he can to make sure that Iran is stayed in check," Spicer said.
The detailed announcement from the Treasury Department on Friday reflected months of work, US officials said, dating to before Trump took office.
"Treasury has likely been working on these Iran sanctions for months," said a congressional aide. US officials said the deliberative process was "totally normal," despite the new administration still filling key national security roles.
Friday's announcement represents the first concrete step in what the Trump administration has vowed will be a more aggressive approach to Iran.
Trump on Thursday refused to rule out military action against Iran, saying that "nothing is off the table" when it comes to confronting destabilizing behavior from the country. While Obama also refused to rule out military action, Trump's rhetoric reflects a scaled-up posture.
On the campaign trail, Trump railed against the nuclear deal, though his aides have offered a more muted view after he took office. An official who briefed reporters this week suggested the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, would remain in place for now.
In a letter to Trump Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators had encouraged aggressive action against Iran as a rebuttal to its missile launches and support for terror organizations.
US rips 'irresponsible' Iran after missile test
"Iranian leaders must feel sufficient pressure to cease deeply destabilizing activities, from sponsoring terrorist groups to continued testing of ballistic missiles," the lawmakers wrote.
"Full enforcement of existing sanctions and the imposition of additional sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program are necessary," the letter said.
On Friday, the move drew swift praise from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
"Iran's dangerous and provocative acts are a direct threat to the United States and our allies," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce in a statement. "I'm glad the administration is taking long-overdue steps to hold the regime accountable."
The new sanctions designate Abdollah Asgharzadeh, an Iranian businessman whom the Treasury Department accused of acting as a procurement agent for the ballistic missile program. It also singled out individuals within Asgharzadeh's network.
Iran to take 'reciprocal measures' after Trump's immigration order
Other entities that were targeted Friday include trading networks associated with Iran's missile program and a network accused of providing cash transfers to Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terror group.
The Treasury Department said it was freezing all US assets for those individuals and prohibiting Americans from doing business with them. A US official said the individuals who came under sanction on Friday have "touch points" in the US financial system, but couldn't detail their exact exposure in the United States or the precise impact the sanctions will have monetarily.
The sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies were issued under an existing executive order that Trump's two predecessors, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, also used to punish the country for test launches, most recently in January 2016.
A US official said Friday that Washington would continue its response to actions it deems provocative from Iran.
"Iran has to determine its response to our actions," the official said, adding "Iran has a choice to make. We are going to continue to respond to their behavior in an ongoing way, at an appropriate level, to continue to pressure them to change their behavior."




http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/03/p...ctions-against-iran-friday-morning/index.html

 

[hussain0216]

Does anyone know the exact sanctions?

 

[Hassan Guy]

Not good news.

 

[war&peace]

Does anyone know the exact sanctions?

Not sure at this point.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

When Iran is testing something like this, then there would be no sanction.

 

[Azeri440]

When Iran is testing something like this, then there would be no sanction.

View attachment 374192

As proved by American sanctions on Chinese companies right?

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

As proved by American sanctions on Chinese companies right?

Many Chinese companies got barred from accessing on the US market, but this won't really matter as China now got larger domestic market than the US, and it is poised to become the new economic leader.

When a sanction that cannot hurt your opponent, then it is not a sanction anymore.

 

[Azeri440]

Many Chinese companies got barred from accessing on the US market, but this won't really matter as China now got larger domestic market than the US, and it is poised to become the new economic leader.

When a sanction that cannot hurt your opponent, then it is not a sanction anymore.

none of what you said is true

First, China doesn't even come close to the consumer market in the US
Second, in 2016, the gap in GDP between US and China actually grew

and lastly, its pretty amusing that in the interconnected world of today, you think the domestic market is enough, it's not.
even the biggest consumer market in the world, which is US, only accounts for 29% of global consumer market

being cut off from the biggest consumer market in the world, and many other developed nations, because US sanctions tend to work like that, will matter and it will hurt.

 

[schoolboy]

being cut off from the biggest consumer market in the world, and many other developed nations, because US sanctions tend to work like that, will matter and it will hurt.

True. Economic control is far deadlier than military dominance.

Plenty of people on PDF are zealously nationalistic, many understand military terms and military hardware. Few understand strategic issues. But least understood of all is economics.

Back to topic - this was unwarranted by the US, IMO. Trump seems to have inherited the traditional Republican enmity of Iran and is following it without asking whether that is wise. I don't mean to suggest that the US is worse off for it - but it is unlikely to help them either - and will simply distract from other issues.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

none of what you said is true

First, China doesn't even come close to the consumer market in the US
Second, in 2016, the gap in GDP between US and China actually grew

and lastly, its pretty amusing that in the interconnected world of today, you think the domestic market is enough, it's not.
even the biggest consumer market in the world, which is US, only accounts for 29% of global consumer market

being cut off from the biggest consumer market in the world, and many other developed nations, because US sanctions tend to work like that, will matter and it will hurt.

The 2016 GPD is because the devaluation of the RMB and other currencies in the world against the strong US dollar, but China's GDP remains above 11 trillion dollars, while the US at 18.5 trillion dollars. China's GDP on RMB is still growing a lot, and the US dollar isn't going to remain strong forever, since Trump wants to devaluate the US dollar.

Also, most Chinese companies don't depend on the US market. The so-called China's trade surplus against the US is in fact the outsourcing products from the US companies like iPhone and iPad. The trade war is going to hurt China's trade surplus, but it is also going to hurt the US multinationals. China is now the largest automobile market, the incoming largest movie market, the largest tourist market, and many others. China's own domestic market is large enough to feed its own domestic companies. China is also too large to be neglected whether you like this fact or not.

BTW, China is not going to allow Iran to get threatened, and hopefully your Azeri brothers wouldn't try to backstab again.

 

[52051]

none of what you said is true

First, China doesn't even come close to the consumer market in the US
Second, in 2016, the gap in GDP between US and China actually grew

and lastly, its pretty amusing that in the interconnected world of today, you think the domestic market is enough, it's not.
even the biggest consumer market in the world, which is US, only accounts for 29% of global consumer market

being cut off from the biggest consumer market in the world, and many other developed nations, because US sanctions tend to work like that, will matter and it will hurt.

Not really:

US market size is nowhere near China:

China has been the world largest automobile market and world largest property market as well as the world largest e-business market and any other market in most if not all category.

The so-called american GDP is all hype, the reason why the US has a bigger "comuption" and GDP is merely accounting trick (like how the american count self-owned house's virtual rent as consumption, what a joke) and overpriced lawyer service/medical cares etc.

The exact reason why the US GDP is higher is because they count bascially every dogshit as GDP.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

The exact reason why the US GDP is higher is because they count bascially every dogshit as GDP.

Nice one. China is destined to go back to it's natural position - numer uno economy in the world. The US and the Western domination of the last two centuries was a abberation. We are now heading back to the natural state of affairs. Look where the centre of economic gravity is now - it is moving east evrry year.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

As proved by American sanctions on Chinese companies right?

President P--sy Grabber is so smart.

Apart from being the most hated man in the world right now (by FAR) and destroying America's reputation along with his own (even amongst America's supposed allies)... he has just gone and shot himself in the foot again.

America agreed to lift sanctions on Iran, in exchange, Iran would not develop nuclear weapons.

Now that Trump has put new sanctions in place, guess what's going to happen? Iran is going to go nuclear. Trump is a real godsend for all the enemies of America.

 

[52051]

President P--sy Grabber is so smart.

Apart from being the most hated man in the world right now (by far) and destroying America's reputation along with his own (even amongst America's supposed allies)... he has just gone and shot himself in the foot again.

America agreed to lift sanctions on Iran, in exchange, Iran would not develop nuclear weapons.

Now that Trump has put new sanctions in place, guess what's going to happen? Iran is going to go nuclear. Trump is a real godsend for all the enemies of America.

Not saying he is not working like an undercover agent for China, but I think trump's plan is to invade iran and mexico in the near future through, and then take on EU.

Originally I am sure trump want to take on China, but just like any high school bullies, afte he found China is too tough for him, like every coward, he back down and go for easy pushovers instead, most of whom are his allies

 

[Indus Pakistan]

And to be honest I was American apologist when I first registered with PDF. I found the Pak anti US rhetoric tedious. I still feel it is not clever thing to revel in cheap rehtoric against US but frankly I now despise USA. Not the people, there are many fine and decent Americans but the American system amd state is a thoroughly odious, evil empire built on the rape, genocide of the Native Americans and profiteering through slavery.

America is good for Europe but for rest of the world it os only good for raping it. I think the only Muslim country that has benefited from USA is Turkey but rest of the Muslim world has been ripped to shreads by this evil empire. US has killed liberal Islamic movements, it has killed secular forces and has sponsored all the frankenstiens we see to day. Look what it did to Iraq, Syria, Libya and the list goes on and on. Just sickening to be honest.

I know China will rise to number one - I just want at number in the next decade - can't wait!

And Pakistan made many mistakes over the decades but one thing, one thing it got 100% bang on right was the alliance with China. It can only get better for Pakistan as China rises.