The plan for economic strangulation of Iran

[Jcrowley]

The plan for economic strangulation of Iran
By Dr. Abbas Bakhtiar
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Jan 11, 2007, 00:39



<snip>

The economic chokepoint: Oil & gas

"According to the Oil and Gas Journal, as of January 1, 2006, Iran held 132.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. This figure, which includes recent discoveries in the Kushk and Hosseineih fields of Khuzestan province, means Iran holds roughly 10 percent of the world's total proven reserves. The vast majority of Iran's crude oil reserves are located in giant onshore fields in the south-western Khuzestan region near the Iraqi border. Overall, Iran has 40 producing fields -- 27 onshore and 13 offshore. Iran's crude oil is generally medium in sulfur and in the 28°-35° API range." <2>

<snip>

The current US strategy is to starve the Iranian oil and gas industries of new investments, thereby reducing the Iranian government’s revenues which are hoped will in turn reduce Iran’s ability to maintain not only its armed forces, but also the government’s social obligations to its people (subsidies, salaries, etc.). It is hoped that this combined with international isolation and (with the help of Saudi Arabia) a reduction in oil prices (OPEC crude basket price: $51.25 per barrel on 8/1/07) will not only cripple the Iranian economy, but also (possibly) lead to a regime change. All attacks on the economy were being presented under the guise of stopping Iran from developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and, in particular, nuclear weapons.

The attack on the Iranian economy started in earnest in early 2006. The United States began putting considerable pressure on international banks and financial institutions to cut their ties with Iran. Countries also were pressured to reduce their economic contact with Iran. For example beside the usual behind the scene warnings and threats, in September 2006, US Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., used his first meeting of world financial chiefs as a venue for the Bush administration's mission to isolate Iran.

<snip>

Later under pressure from the US some three top Japanese banks: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp announced that, in line with US financial sanctions, they will refrain from working with Iran's state-run Bank Saderat of Iran (with 3,400 branches in Iran). Recently another major Iranian Bank with some foreign branches is being targeted for a freeze of assets and sanctions. "Bank Sepah International Plc (BSIP), incorporated in the United Kingdom, specializes in providing finance and services for international trade worldwide with a particular focus on Iran and the Persian Gulf region, according to its Web site. The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank Sepah, Iran, which was established in 1925 and is the oldest of the Iranian banks. Bank Sepah has a large network of branches in Iran as well as offices in Paris, Frankfurt and Rome". <6>

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1625.shtml

[leftchick]

1. what about China and Russia

:scared: this is not going to be pretty.

[BayCityProgressive]

2. Make no mistake

China is still socialist..it is merely playing the game that needs to be played so that they can be competitive with us. Their list of allies grows. They have close ties to Africa and have abolished their debt. They are close to Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, North Korea, Venezuela and Bolivia and have many ties with France, Russia, and Iran. Things will get very itneresting in the next few decades. I think Reagan's pronouncement of communism being dead was waaaaay premature.

[Karenina]

3. It's already quite ugly...