Displaying items by tag: sanctions

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo extended condolences to the victims of the floods in Iran, and said his country was prepared to help. But in a sign that the offer may have been less than serious, he did so in a statement blaming Iranian mismanagement for the flooding, and without explaining how assistance could be directed to Iran without violating US sanctions. Pompeo rejected a claim by Iran that the sanctions were preventing donations to its Red Crescent. He said the USA was ready to contribute to international charities which could then forward the money to the Red Crescent for relief.

The World Bank reported that after sanctions were removed in 2016 there were many positive economic developments in Iran. In November 2018 the US reimposed sanctions and requested India, China and EU countries, to stop working with Iran. Sanctions are major causes of food insecurity, mass suffering, and eventual high poverty rates. Oil is the largest source of income. When there is no oil coming, there are no US dollars. Everything purchased in Iran is with US dollars. ‘No dollars’ causes the value of the Iranian rial to fall drastically, causing many companies to go bankrupt and having to let a lot of employees go. Sanctions increase the gap between the rich and poor. However there are a number of Christian business and mission initiatives established in Iran, including church-planting via small businesses. See

The European parliament voted to sanction Hungary for neglecting norms on democracy, civil rights and corruption. Since 2010, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has pressurised courts, media and non-government groups to prevent migrants entering Hungary. He has also led opposition to Angela Merkel and others who want Europe to take in more Muslim refugees. Poland, the biggest former communist country in the EU, will oppose any sanctions imposed by the bloc on Hungary. Its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said, ‘Every country has its sovereign right to make internal reforms it deems appropriate, and actions aimed against member states serve only to deepen divides in the EU and increase citizens’ current lack of confidence to European institutions.’ A BBC report says that Mr Orban appears increasingly isolated among European conservatives, but is being applauded by nationalist parties.

President Hassan Rouhani's chief of staff has called upon people, in the current economic situation, to avoid buying more goods than they require. He urged merchants and shopkeepers to respect fairness in pricing commodities. Since the USA re-imposed sanctions, Iran is experiencing skyrocketing prices and shortages of essential commodities. People are hoarding medicines, foodstuffs, and baby nappies in large quantities, even in warehouses. Iran's currency fell to a record low (140% drop), and Iranians are now using money-changers in fear of further drops. The second stage of US sanctions, targeting oil exports and banking, will begin on 4 November. Experts believe ongoing political and economic challenges are fuelling widespread anger against the regime. But as the regime’s popularity decreases, the influence of the gospel increases. World Mission reported that Iran’s underground church is one of the fastest-growing in the world.

If Western sanctions go as far as excluding Russia from the World Wide Web, the country's own internet is ready, according to Russia’s presidential aide on the internet. ‘Technically, we are ready for anything now,’ he said. However, the shutdown will not be painless. Failures always occur when moving from one technology to another, and those keeping data abroad will experience difficulties. Russia has a data privacy law. All companies processing personal data of Russian citizens are obliged to store it on servers within the country’s borders. The professional network website LinkedIn has already been banned in Russia for refusing to comply. Twitter and other social networks have agreed to move data about Russians to the country.

Three world leaders outlined their opinions on Iran. The US secretary of state threatened to impose ‘the strongest sanctions in history’ if Iran doesn’t meet a list of demands, including abandoning involvement in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Afghanistan. President Putin said Iran and Hezbollah should leave Syria when the civil war ends; and Israel’s Netanyahu lauded Donald Trump for putting pressure on Iran to stop its intervention in Syria and end its uranium enrichment. An Iranian spokesman told Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, ‘No one will extract us from Syria. We will remain and keep supporting Syria so long as it needs our help. No one can force Iran to do anything’. Meanwhile please continue to pray for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a Christian, serving a five-year sentence allegedly for spying and now having new charges made against her. See

A day after Donald Trump said he was withdrawing from the Iran weapons deal, he created further anxiety by threatening Iran with ‘severe consequences’ if it restarted its nuclear programme. He is also preparing to impose new sanctions, perhaps as early as next week. His comments came as officials in Iran and leaders across Europe scrambled to see if they could continue to operate the 2015 deal negotiated by Barack Obama. France’s foreign minister claimed that the deal could yet continue, but Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told Emmanuel Macron that Europe had only a ‘limited opportunity’ to preserve it.

On 15 March the United States issued sanctions on 19 Russian individuals and five Russian groups, including Moscow’s intelligence services, for meddling in the 2016 US election and malicious cyber-attacks. They said there would be additional sanctions against Russian government officials and oligarchs ‘for their destabilising activities’, but did not give a time frame for those sanctions, which would sever the individuals’ access to the US financial system. Those targeted by the new sanctions include the Russian nationals and entities who adopted false online personas to push divisive messages, travelled to the United States to collect intelligence, and staged political rallies while posing as Americans. The action blocks all property of those targeted that is subject to US jurisdiction, and prohibits American citizens from engaging in transactions with them.

President Nicolás Maduro won a controversial election for a new Constituent Assembly with the power to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution,  allowing him to replace the current National Assembly with an assembly of 545 members nominated by his administration. The impoverished nation - wracked by an economic crisis, hyperinflation, food shortages, medicine shortages, starvation, skyrocketing infant mortality, civil unrest and street violence - has endured months of anti-government protests with many violent deaths. Maduro said his new Assembly ‘would bring peace to a polarised country, with all branches of the government falling under the political movement.’ Two of Australia’s major trade unions pledged support for the socialist dictator of Venezuela and his Bolivarian Revolution Socialist Government while America has imposed sanctions and the international community are discussing ways to stabilise the country after allegations of election ballot fraud. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/02/venezuela-voting-fraud-corruption-allegations-protests.

The European Union formally extended its economic sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, a widely-expected step that keeps restrictions on business with Russian energy, defence and financial sectors until 31 January 2018. The sanctions were imposed in July 2014 following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula and Moscow's direct support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. Moscow denies direct involvement in the conflict, despite NATO's assertions that its troops are supporting the rebels. EU leaders agreed to the extension at their summit in Brussels last week, after France and Germany cited no progress in efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014. Under the sanctions that were imposed in tandem with the United States, European companies are banned from doing business with or investing in Russia's defence and energy industries, while financial ties are severely limited. European companies cannot borrow or lend money to Russia's five main state-owned banks for more than 30 days, limiting Moscow's avenues for raising funds. Any lifting of sanctions on Russia is tied to the implementation of the Minsk peace deal for Ukraine which was negotiated by the leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia in 2015.