Europe Weighs More Sanctions as Iran's Currency Plummets - Bloomberg [getdailynow.blogspot.com]
State Property 2Philly gangsta Beans (Beanie Sigel) is back and badder than ever in this sizzling-hot sequel to the smash hit|STATE PROPERTY. In STATE PROPERTY 2|Beans is stuck doing hard time in State Penitentiary while his loyal crew ABM|tries to do business without him. Heteams up with a fellow con Pollo Loco (NORE) and when they reclaim their crews and hit the street|all hell breaks loose! Friends become enemies and enemies become dead in this action packed mystery...with a final twist that will blow your mind. And with hilarious performances by Ol' Dirty Bastard|Cam'ron and Omarah|the laughs fly as fast as the bullets.
The U.K., France and Germany are pressing for new sanctions to bring Iran’s economy to its knees and curb its nuclear ambitions, according to several European diplomats, as rioting over the country’s tumbling currency suggests the existing sanctions are taking a toll.
In a confidential letter to the 27 EU member states, portions of which were provided to Bloomberg News, the foreign ministers of Europe’s three largest economies criticized Iran for its lack of openness over its nuclear program and called for raising the cost to Iran’s leaders of refusing to abandon what the U.S., Europe and Israel say is a covert nuclear weapons program. Iran says its program is solely for civilian energy and medical research.
“So far, Iran has not reacted positively to our proposal,†the British, French and German ministers wrote in their Sept. 20 letter, referring to a proposal for Iran to abandon medium-enriched uranium in exchange for aviation and energy incentives.
“On the contrary: Our concerns have once again increased,†the letter says, referring to an Aug. 30 report by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna that found Iran had increased its stockpiles of enriched uranium, which -- if diverted from safeguards and further enriched -- could be used to produce a weapon.
Ahead of the next EU foreign ministers’ meeting Oct. 15 in Luxembourg, European diplomats and finance officials are discussing proposals to tighten the vise on Iran in the energy, finance, trade and transportation sectors, according to four European officials who all spoke on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic protocol.
More Pressure
The U.K., France and Germany believe a diplomatic solution is possible, the EU diplomats said, though they think more pressure is needed to force Iran to cooperate. Along with the U.S., Russia and China, the three European nations have engaged in nuclear negotiations with Iran since April that so far haven’t produced an agreement.
U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury David Cohen is visiting France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. this week to discuss coordinating efforts to increase the pressure on the Iranian government.
Among the proposals under discussion in European capitals are measures to close the loopholes that have allowed Iran to circumvent existing sanctions, according to the four EU diplomats. Those would include limiting exceptions to the freeze on Iranian central bank assets under European jurisdiction, a move that would further complicate efforts by Iran to access its hard currency reserves to stabilize the Iranian rial, the diplomats said.
Other Proposals
Other proposals from the British, French and German governments include working more closely with the maritime industry to halt the reflagging of Iranian ships and tightening bans on sales of potential dual-use technology that might have nuclear or missile applications, the EU diplomats said.
Further financial penalties might include blocking more Iranian central bank transactions with European banks and halting so-called U-turn transactions for Iran that begin and end with a non-Iranian bank, according to the EU officials. Such measures would severely limit EU trade with Iran, proponents say.
Although the EU imposed an Iranian oil embargo on July 1, Europe continues to export billions of dollars of worth of goods and services to Iran, said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington research group that advocates tougher sanctions.
European Imports
According to figures compiled by FDD from EU government sources, Germany exported 1.4 billion euros of goods to Iran between January and July of this year, and Italy exported 550 million euros worth between January and May 2012, Dubowitz said.
One senior European diplomat who called the existing sanctions unprecedented in their scale said the aim of new measures would be to bring Iran’s economy to its knees in a way that hurts the regime rather than the people.
Iran’s rial is already in a tailspin, dropping 18 percent on Oct. 1, reaching a record low of 35,000 to the dollar on the unofficial market, and losing more than half its value against the dollar in street trading in the past two months.
Iran’s free-falling currency has turned meat into a luxury, sparking overnight price surges and spurring shoppers to stockpile goods, Tehran shopkeepers said in interviews. Riot police yesterday fired tear gas and sealed off parts of downtown Tehran after the currency’s plunge triggered street protests.
Rising Inflation
The inflation rate, which Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani last week estimated at 29 percent, sent the price of milk in Tehran up 9 percent yesterday.
The financial and oil sanctions now in place may be triggering a balance of payments crisis that could cripple the Iranian government’s ability to pay for essential imports, according to European and U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The plummeting Iranian currency is making imports prohibitively expensive. Combined with insufficient foreign exchange reserves that limit the euros and dollars available to pay for imported goods and services, new “EU sanctions that restrict Iran’s ability to import critical European goods and services could combine to push Iran to economic collapse,†Dubowitz said in an interview.
U.S. and European officials also credit the sanctions -- in conjunction with poor economic management in Iran -- for spurring capital flight from Iran and a crisis of confidence in the currency.
Cartoon Bomb
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations’ General Assembly last week, in which he dramatized the threat from the Iranian nuclear program with a cartoon of a nuclear bomb and underscored Israel’s readiness to take preemptive military action, gives added impetus to the push for additional sanctions, according to the European diplomats.
Netanyahu, who’s expressed skepticism about the efficacy of U.S. and European sanctions, now seems to be more open to them.
An Israeli official said a foreign ministry analysis found sanctions are hobbling Iran’s economy, even though they haven’t prompted Iran to abandon its nuclear program. Israeli officials think further sanctions need to be more targeted, according to the foreign ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Netanyahu “really has no choice if the U.S. is dead-set against†a military attack, Shmuel Sandler, a political scientist at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv, said in a telephone interview. “For now, it looks like he’s going to have to wait and see if the sanctions work.â€
‘Cripple Date’
Bijan Khajehpour, an Iranian economist and strategic consultant now based in Vienna, said he disagrees “with those who say the Iranian economy is collapsing or that there’s an economic ‘cripple’ date.â€
The Iranian economy, he said, is too big and too complex for that, with ample domestic industry to replace foreign imports. Iran has been under a variety of sanctions long enough that its leaders have found illicit workarounds for most obstacles, he said.
Sanctions, he said in an interview during a visit to Washington yesterday, “are not achieving their goal†to persuade Iran’s leaders to abandon their nuclear program. Government and government-affiliated businesses are “actually benefiting†from restrictions on legal trade and from the currency crash, he said, by engaging in arbitrage and black- market activities, hiding assets and not being accountable.
To contact the reporter on this story: Indira A.R. Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Walcott at jwalcott9@bloomberg.net
Europe Weighing Additional Sanctions as Iran’s Currency Plummets
Iranian riot police stand next to a garbage container which is set on fire by protesters, in the first sign of public unrest over Iran's plunging currency, in central Tehran, near the main bazaar on October 3, 2012.
Iranian riot police stand next to a garbage container which is set on fire by protesters, in the first sign of public unrest over Iran's plunging currency, in central Tehran, near the main bazaar on October 3, 2012. Source: AFP/Getty Images
5:33
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- David Hartwell, an analyst at IHS Jane's, a unit of IHS Global Insight, discusses the Iranian rial, accelerating inflation and the country's nuclear program. He speaks with Guy Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse." (Source: Bloomberg)
0:45
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the country will overcome trade and financial sanctions imposed in the past year. (Source: Bloomberg)
Europe Weighing Additional Sanctions as Iran’s Currency Plummets
Iran’s rial is already in a tailspin, dropping 18 percent on Oct. 1, reaching a record low of 35,000 to the dollar on the unofficial market, and losing more than half its value against the dollar in street trading in the past two months.
Iran’s rial is already in a tailspin, dropping 18 percent on Oct. 1, reaching a record low of 35,000 to the dollar on the unofficial market, and losing more than half its value against the dollar in street trading in the past two months. Photographer: Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg
Related Europe Weighs More Sanctions as Iran's Currency Plummets - Bloomberg Issues Question by Sheba: Why is it so important to our society that "separation of church and state" is adherred to? The words "separation of church and state" are not actually in our Constitution. Best answer for Why is it so important to our society that "separation of church and state" is adherred to?:
Answer by dze
imo it gets turned around 180 degrees backwards to the original spirit of what is implied in the first amendment ...
Answer by augy30
for good faith and self growth,inner growth too
Answer by fourthy27
It's not important. The founders would LAUGH at the current interpretation of the Constitution, "Congress shall make no law..." At the time there were numerous states with official religions and they were absolutely fine with that. In fact, they wanted each state to become a virtual laboratory of liberty, with each one trying new and different things while the Federal government kept their NOSES OUT of the states' business. The things that worked would thrive in a free society and the things that didn't would fail. Most religions are completely compatible with such ideas.
Answer by Sacagawea_Fan
Declaration of Independance -- "... no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." 1st Amendment of our Constitution -- "The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. It prohibits the federal legislature from making laws that establish a state religion or prefer a certain religion (the "Establishment Clause"), prohibit free exercise of religion (the "Free Exercise Clause"), infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to assemble peaceably, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Answer by hopeful
I think whoever started the lie that the constitution said that was somebody who wanted it to be so. I remember it was one of the presidents that actually said it and he said it not for this reason but to protect the church? Something like that anyways.
Answer by Gilla
It's important because we would end up like Iran....
Answer by Bryan
Very true, those words do not appear in the Constitution. I have always interpreted the Amendment as meaning that the government cannot establish or endorse any religion over another. The Founding Fathers were religious men and believed their hands were guided by God. I seriously doubt they ever intended for religion to be removed completely as some people would like to see. These men feared an institution like the Church Of England. A state religion which all would be forced to adhere to. Alas it is just another subversion of their vision. hopeful: Just an FYI. The original appearance of the phrase was in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to a group called the Danbury Baptists in 1802. If you wish to read the letter follow the link below. http://www.usconstitution.net/jeffwall.html
Answer by Heinrich Scheidemann
Religion is irrational and to put irrationality into law will put a stranglehold on society. It's a type of facism. Read some of John Locke's treatises on government. He talks a lot about religious freedom and its importance.
Answer by Memnoch
People think that they are being forced into something by saying things like "one nation under god." It is also the fact that some places push so hard for there religion to be predominent. School prayers over intercoms, the same religion praying before city councils. These things are putting the spotlight on one group and forcing others to adhere, in some part, to there beliefs. However, things like making it illegal for a group of kids to get together in private on school grounds and pray goes to far in the other direction. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. This means they can't take god out of something just to take god out of it, it also means they can't put him in just to put him in. If they decide to change the pledge of allegance, or the in god we trust on the money, it technically has to be for non-religous reasons.
Answer by MC Hummer
Obviously you've never read Martin Niemoller's poem. > When the Nazis came for the communists, > I remained silent; > I was not a communist. > > When they locked up the social democrats, > I remained silent; > I was not a social democrat. > > When they came for the trade unionists, > I did not speak out; > I was not a trade unionist. > > When they came for me, > there was no one left to speak out. The point? If you do nothing in the face of fascism attacking others, you will BE nothing when the fascists attack you. Now here's the US version: > When the fundamentalists came for the muslims, > I remained silent; > I was not a muslim. > > When the fundamentalists came for the mormons, > I remained silent; > I was not a mormon. > > When the fundamentalists came for the atheists, > I remained silent; > I was not a atheists. > > When the fundamentalists came for the catholics, > I remained silent; > I was not a catholic. > > When they came for me, > there was no one left to speak out. Pack animals in the wild _always_ turn cannibalistic when there's nothing left to feed on. Unless you're a part of that small minority willing to criminalize and murder all the others, realize that someday, someone will try to criminalize or murder you. And if you ARE a part of that religion which is willing to criminalize and murder others (it doesn't have to be fundamentalist christians, they're just the most violent), you're no better than a Nazi if you go along with it. The separationg of church and state protects EVERYBODY. When one religion dominates, you get the crusades and Nazism on the christian side, and you get the taliban and sharia law on the muslim side. .
Answer by SA Writer
The First Amendment says that Congress shall make no laws establishing a religion. You may recall that at the time the British declared the Church of England as the only allowable religion in England. Many of the early colonists fled England to get away from this religious persecution. After the Revolution, the Founding Fathers wanted to ensure the US did not create a similar problem here. Eventually, the Supreme Court interpreted this to mean that government could do nothing that looked like it supported one religion over another. So it ruled that school prayer was unconstitutional because it presupposed a belief in God. Atheists, they reasoned, should not be forced to pray if they didn't believe in God. Like most things, a good idea has been taken to its illogical extreme. One of the first victims in any such crusade is common sense. It has now devolved into a narcissistic power trip where a vocal minority have decided that their misery is more important than the majority's pleasure. Hopefully one day the pendulum of reason will reach equilibrium again.
Answer by Art S
LOOK AT THE ONLY "OFFICIAL" RELIGION OF THE COUNTRY OF ITALY, CATHOLICISM!! DO YOU WANT TO BE CONSIDERED A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN BECAUSE YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS RELIGION THAT IS HISTORICALLY LOADED WITH CORRUPTIN, ABUSE OF POWRE AND EVEN MURDER?! 'NUFF SAID.
Enemy Of The State Pt1Will Smith, enemy of the state Part 1. Enjoy!
0 comments:
Post a Comment