EU approves tighter sanctions on Iran - diplomats
BRUSSELS, July 26 |
BRUSSELS, July 26 (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers adopted extra sanctions against Iran on Monday, including measures to target investment in its lucrative oil and gas industries, diplomats said.
The sanctions, which go beyond measures imposed by the United Nations last month, mirror extra steps taken by the United States and are designed to encourage Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear enrichment programme.
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By Jonathan Marcus
Diplomatic correspondent, BBC News.
The US and its European allies like to see Iran as an increasingly isolated country; its economy hobbled more and more by economic sanctions and with the pressure growing weekly.
There is no doubt that Iran is to a large extent isolated from key markets and that the sanctions are beginning to act as a significant brake on its economy.
This was already in a bad way due to mismanagement and structural problems.
Iran’s inability, for example, to import Western technology for its oil and gas industry is seriously reducing its ability to exploit this vital natural asset over time.
However, as this week’s gathering of the Developing 8 (D8) in Nigeria shows, there is no isolation and there is no isolation.
Strong sympathy
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is something of a globetrotter, pursuing an active diplomacy in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Balkans.
The D8 gathering brings together a diverse collection of countries, including a number who are significant players in their own regions – Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
All are predominantly Muslim countries or have large Muslim populations.
While principally a trading or economic grouping, politics is never really far away and they are set to give a resounding endorsement of the need for all countries to be able to secure the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy.
This will be taken by Iran as an endorsement of its efforts to master various nuclear technologies. It insists that this is for civil, not military, purposes.
The meeting underlines the fact that many governments – especially in the developing world – still have strong sympathy for Iran’s aims.
They view its battle with the United Nations Security Council over the enrichment of uranium in very different terms from those perceived in Washington and European capitals.
Dynamic diplomacy
The meeting highlights the fact too that Iran has a dynamic and active diplomacy of its own; something that is often forgotten with the focus on US coalition-building to back each new round of UN-imposed sanctions.
Mr Ahmadinejad received a warm reception from the D8 delegates At many levels Iran’s diplomacy has actually been quite successful.
It recently engaged with two of the key emerging regional powers – Turkey and Brazil. They had intervened to try to find a compromise deal that would enable the fuelling of a research reactor in Iran used to produce medical isotopes.
The US and its supporters would argue that it is wrong to see its differences with Iran as a battle between Tehran and the West.
It is, after all, the demands of the UN – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Security Council – with which Iran is failing to comply.
But that is not how it is seen in many parts of the world and Mr Ahmadinejad’s warm reception among the D8 is evidence that many still have a very different view of Iran and its nuclear struggles.
HISTORY SHOWS US BY ALL MEANS TO PREVENT OTHER NPT-MEMBER MIDEAST NATIONS TO GIVE UP their RIGHTS TO NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY SUCH LIBYA, SYRIA, JORDAN AND UAE AND IRAQ WITH FAKE WMD PROPAGANDA RESPECTIVELLY, SHOWING CONCERN ABOUT PAKISTAN-CHINA NUCLEAR REATOR SALES, SHOWING REGRETS IN A CALL FOR NUKES FREE MIDEAST AT LAST NPT MEET AGAINST ISRAEL, WHILE SUPPORTING NON NPT MEMBER ISRAEL FOR ITS NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY UNDER THE MOTTO US IS COMMITED FULLY TO UNBREAKABLE BOND ISRAEL’S SECURITY.
NPT IS NON SENSE MADE BY ZIONIST CLOWNS TO FOOL.
UN CHARTER VII ARTICLE 51:
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.
Michel Collon, a Belgian journalist and author, in his book “Israel, let’s talk about it,” has slammed European media over decades of “lying” to people in order to support Israel.
Collon, in his book, has recounted “10 big lies” spread by Western media in order to “justify the existence and actions of Israel”, which are concisely presented below:
1. The first lie is that Israel was established in reaction to the massacre of Jews during the World War II.
This notion is completely wrong. Israel is in fact a domineering project which was approved in the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897, when nationalist Jews decided to occupy Palestine.
2. The second justification for establishing and legitimizing Israel is that the Jews are returning to their forefathers’ land, from where they had been driven away in 70 A.D. This is a tale. I have spoken to the famous Israeli historian Shlomo Sand and other historians and they all believe that there has been no “exodus,” so “return” is meaningless. The people living in Palestine have not left their land in the ancient era.
In fact the descendents of Jews residing in Palestine are the people who are currently living in Palestine. Those who claim they want to return to their lands originate for Western and Eastern Europe and Northern Africa.
Sand says there is no Jewish nation. The Jews do not have common history, language or culture. The only common thing between them is their religion, and religion does not make a nation.
3. The third lie is that when Jewish immigrants occupied Palestine, it was an empty and uninhibited country.
However, there are documents and evidences that prove that in the 19th century the agricultural products of Palestine were exported to different countries, including France.
4. Fourth, some people say Palestinians left their country on their own free will.
This is another lie, which lots of people believed, including myself. Until Israeli historians like Benny Morris and Ilan Pappe said that Palestinians were driven away and banished from their lands by using force and terror.
5. It is said that today Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and it should be protected; it is the “government of law.”
But in my opinion not only it is not the government of law; it is the only regime that no law defines its territory and boundaries. All the countries of the world have a constitution which defines their boundaries, but no such thing applies to Israel. Israel is an expansionist project which knows no boundary, and its law is completely racist; according to this law Israel is the country for Jews, and its non-Jew citizens are not considered human. Such law is a contradiction to democracy.
6. It is said that the US tries to protect democracy in the Middle East by protecting Israel. And we know that the US annual financial aid to Israel amounts to 3 billion dollars. This money is used for bombarding Israel’s neighbor countries.
But America is not after establishing democracy in the Middle East; it wants the undisturbed flow of oil.
7. They pretend that the US seeks an agreement between Israel and Palestine.
This is also completely wrong and a lie. EU former Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana told the Israel that “you are the 21st country of the European Union.” The European weapons industries cooperate with the Israeli military industries and support them financially. But when Palestinians elected their government, Europe did not recognize it and gave the green light to Israel to attack the Gaza Strip.
8. When one talks about these facts and the history of Israel and Palestine, when one reveals the US interests in this situation, they call you anti-Semite to keep you silent.
But we should say that when we criticize Israel, it is not racism or anti-Semitism. We criticize a government that does not believe in the equality of Jews, Christians and Muslims, and so destroys the peace between followers of different religions.
9. The mass media say that Palestinians cause violence and terrorism. We say Israel army’s occupation is violence, the policy that has stolen land and home from Palestinians is violence.
10. An issue which is often raised is that there is no way for resolving this situation, and there is no solution for the hatred and the grudge caused by Israel and its accomplices.
But there is a solution. The only thing that can stop this process is the public pressure on the accomplices of Israel in the US and Europe and other parts of the world; public pressure on the mass media which refrain from telling the truth about Israel; and using the Internet or any other media out let to publish real news about Palestine.
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