In response to Iran’s continued nuclear escalations and failure to cooperate with the IAEA, we’re imposing sanctions on entities involved in Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical trade. We are committed to using all available tools to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 27, 2024
How do you put more sanctions on Iran?
Iran is already sanctioned almost as much as Russia. Before the Ukraine invasion, they were the most sanctioned country in history.
This is like threatening a homosexual with gay sex. Or, it’s like some less offensive analogy, perhaps. Threatening a fat kid with a cake? Something along those lines.
Like “no, I don’t really want this, I’m not asking for it, but I have so much already, it doesn’t make a difference really.”
The other thing is that it’s demonstrably factual that sanctions have never accomplished any goal, so the whole thing is just performative. But who are they performing for? Either you don’t care at all about this, or you know that sanctions don’t do anything. I don’t think there’s a middle group that is really concerned about Iran nuking Israel that is also unaware that sanctions have never once done anything to stop any single country from doing anything.
So much of what happens these days looks like a public performance for a segment of the population that does not exist.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has announced fresh sanctions against Iran’s petroleum sector in response to what he described as an expansion of the country’s nuclear programme which has provoked renewed fears that it is preparing to build an atomic bomb.
The embargoes – on three unnamed entities involved in the transport of Iranian petroleum or petrochemical products – were announced amid a chorus of warnings of a renewed conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iran’s proxy Hezbollah, the powerful Shia group that dominates Lebanon.
In a statement on Thursday, Blinken said Iran had expanded its uranium enrichment programme in the past month “in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose”.
Under the new sanctions, 11 vessels associated with the three embargoed organisations would be designated as “blocked property”.
“Iran’s actions to increase its enrichment capacity are all the more concerning in light of Iran’s continued failure to cooperate with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] and statements by Iranian officials suggesting potential changes to Iran’s nuclear doctrine,” Blinken said.
He was referring to recent comments by Kamal Kharazzi, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that the country could revise its defence doctrine to permit the building of nuclear weapons following a series of military exchanges with Israel in April.
“We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Iran’s existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine,” Kharrazi said. “In the case of an attack on our nuclear facilities by the Zionist regime, our deterrence will change.”
These people in Iran have been supposed to build nukes for like, 30 years. They apparently haven’t done it yet. There are probably reasons they don’t do it. They have the technology. I think they don’t want the heat.
That said, the Jews are bringing the heat, so maybe it’s so hot, they’re like “okay, whatever, let’s just do the nukes.”
So it’s possible. I don’t know. Who the hell knows. They’re saying now that if the Jews keep bombing them they’re going to build a nuke and nuke Israel. I’m not against that. Actually, I think it’s a great idea.
It’s possible they’re so sick of this ongoing shit with the Jews and the Americans that they’re like “okay, let’s just do this thing.”
But who knows what the Iranians are thinking. I don’t. Antony Blinken doesn’t.
Donald Trump:
We are not looking for regime change in Iran and will definitely come to an agreement with them.
Iran has great economic potential, it just shouldn’t have a nuclear bomb, that’s all. pic.twitter.com/kP6pEfIcqd
— S p r i n t e r F a m i l y (@SprinterFamily) June 26, 2024