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The currency war on Iran
The continuing currency crisis in Iran, which has seen the rial go into freefall, has been cited, with some celebration in certain quarters, as proving that US-led sanctions are "working" against Tehran. Increasingly shut out from international banking and struggling to sell its oil, Iran has been forced to sell more cheaply while buying raw materials at a higher cash price. This, in turn, has led to currency speculation that the government has done nothing to halt, and to sharp devaluation.
But what does "sanctions are working" actually mean? Some hawks have read it as the possible beginning of the end for Iran's nuclear programme and the collapse of the clerical regime. For others, including those anxious to avoid conflict over Iran, it has been seized on as a suggestion that the crisis might be resolved through negotiation and non-military pressure.
The reality is that the political, economic and social impact of sanctions can produce very different results from those allegedly desired, more often than not hurting ordinary people. And there is a third scenario, in which sanctions might actually make the confrontation with Iran more dangerous still.
The increasing popularity of economic sanctions, as Britain's former ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, has observed, is due to the perception that no other tool exists "between words and military action if you want to bring pressure upon a government".
Source and full piece: The Guardian, 2 Oct 2012
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Re: The currency war on Iran
The noose will continue to tighten. On 15 October the UK, France and Germany will meet to decide on how to increase the blockade. They will discuss a total blockade against all export and import transactions with Iran. They will discuss ending exceptions that allow Iran’s central bank to use reserves it holds in European banks for some commercial trade. (That is, they may steal all of Iran’s assets held in foreign banks, just as they stole the assets of Iraq, Syria, and Libya.) They may ban the so-called U-turn transactions that landed Standard Chartered Plc in hot water with New York state authorities. They may ban companies from exporting food and consumer products to Iran. They may ban European insurers from providing any sort of maritime or commercial policies for exports of goods to Iran. They may push for a global ban on trade with any entity that is related to Iran. To do this, they will discuss how to twist a 2010 UN resolution into this global ban, just as they twisted the no-fly zone over Libya into a bombing campaign. The USA will discuss creating a haven program to encourage average Iranians to move their savings into U.S. bank accounts. Iran’s government will fight back with capital controls, but this will put them in the position of harming the economic interests of their people, while the U.S. offers to safeguard their money (until the U.S. confiscates it).
The blockade must continue to stiffen, in order to make the Iranian people ripe for the Syria treatment. Fortunately for the imperialists, when the masses are blockaded and starved, the masses tend to blame their own government, not the blockade.