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Sunday, November 24, 2013

New agreement nets 7B for Iran

Money for Shia jihad and a nuclear weapon, courtesy Obama and his European yes-men.

From Bloomberg November 23 by Indira A.R. Lakshmanan

Iran to Reap $7 Billion in Sanctions Relief Under Accord

Iran will get as much as $7 billion in relief from economic sanctions over six months under the first-step agreement reached today in Geneva, the Obama administration said.

In return for Iran limiting its nuclear program, the interim agreement provides for the release of $4.2 billion in frozen oil assets and will let Iran continue exporting oil at current levels, rather than forcing continued reductions by buyers, as would be required under current law, according to a White House statement.

The accord also will “suspend certain sanctions on gold and precious metals, Iran’s auto sector and Iran’s petrochemical exports, potentially providing Iran approximately $1.5 billion in revenue,” the administration said.

Sanctions have cost Iran $120 billion in lost revenue since the U.S. and European Union started imposing strict penalties on energy, ports, insurance, shipping, banking and other Iran-related transactions in 2010, according to U.S. Treasury estimates. While almost all U.S. trade with Iran has been banned for decades, other than food and medical supplies, U.S. restrictions now apply to other countries that trade with the Islamic Republic.

The deal will permit $400 million in tuition payments to schools for Iranian students studying abroad over the six months, and it will give Iran access to civilian aircraft parts as well as help in providing humanitarian aid that isn’t banned by sanctions.
‘Ratchet Up’

“But the broader architecture of sanctions will remain in place, and we will continue to enforce them vigorously,” President Barack Obama said in a televised address from the White House last night, shortly after the agreement was announced in Geneva. “And if Iran does not fully meet its commitments during this six-month phase, we will turn off the relief, and ratchet up the pressure.”

Iran’s crude exports have fallen 60 percent from two years ago, due to U.S. and European sanctions, according to the administration.

The agreement would ease European Union sanctions on insurance and transportation of Iranian oil, according to a Farsi-language copy of the deal.

The sanctions relief being provided isn’t “going to have a significant impact on the real balances of supply and demand for oil,” Ed Morse, the New York-based global head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc., said in an interview.
More Sanctions Sought

Israeli officials and some U.S. lawmakers have said sanctions should be tightened, not eased, to keep pressure on Iran. Rejecting those pleas, the U.S. and the five other countries negotiating with Iran have agreed to “not impose new nuclear-related sanctions for six months if Iran abides by its commitments under this deal, to the extent permissible within their political systems,” according to the White House statement.

The no-new-sanctions pledge will be tested when the U.S. Senate returns for legislative business on Dec. 9 after a Thanksgiving break. A group of 14 senators from both parties issued a statement last week pledging to “pass bipartisan Iran sanctions legislation as soon as possible.”

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