WND – by AARON KLEINTEL AVIV – Under the interim deal between Iran and Western powers, Tehran’s economy could be flooded with untold billions in sanctions relief and other gains, far more than the widely reported amount of $6 to $7 billion.
In fact, the final text of the deal does not specify any dollar amount for sanctions relief. It leaves the U.S. and Europe open to unfreezing more funds and facilitating an unspecified amount in other transactions and sales.
A White House press release states the deal will result in “approximately $7 billion in relief,” calling that amount “a fraction of the costs that Iran will continue to incur during this first phase under the sanctions that will remain in place.”
“The vast majority of Iran’s approximately $100 billion in foreign exchange holdings are inaccessible or restricted by sanctions,” states the release.
However, a careful reading of the agreement, posted on the EU’s website, finds numerous open-ended statements about sanctions relief.
If Iran keeps its side of the bargain, the deal allows an increase in European Union “authorisation thresholds for transactions for non-sanctioned trade to an agreed amount.” No amount for the thresholds are provided in the text of the deal.
The agreement states the U.S. and EU will “enable the repatriation of an agreed amount of revenue held abroad.” No specific amount is delineated in the deal.
In one clause that could potentially free untold billions, the deal establishes a “financial channel to facilitate humanitarian trade for Iran’s domestic needs using Iranian oil revenues held abroad.” No cap is provided for the amount of revenue that could be made available.
An open-ended footnote states the “humanitarian” trade financial channel “would involve specified foreign banks and non-designated Iranian banks to be defined when establishing the channel.”
More sanctions relief spelled out in the text of the deal includes a Western agreement to:
- Pause efforts to further reduce Iran’s crude oil sales, enabling Iran’s current customers to purchase their current average amounts of crude oil. For such oil sales, it suspends the EU and U.S. sanctions on associated insurance and transportation services.
- Suspend U.S. and EU sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical exports, as well as sanctions on associated services, gold and precious metals.
- Suspend U.S. sanctions on Iran’s auto industry, as well as sanctions on associated services.
- License the supply and installation in Iran of spare parts for safety of flight for Iranian civil aviation and associated services.
- License safety related inspections and repairs in Iran as well as associated services.
- Not impose new nuclear-related U.N. Security Council sanctions.
- Not impose new EU nuclear-related sanctions.
- In the case of the U.S. administration, acting consistently with the respective roles of the president and the Congress, refrain from imposing new nuclear-related sanctions.
With additional research by Joshua Klein.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/11/deal-opens-iran-economy-to-untold-billions/#ZmVQaeZTLJUVX6Xd.99
See, this is the side of the US we should see all the time, someone with the cap full of brains on as they offer solutions to a situation that went out of control ages ago and the US found itself painting merrily in the corner and finally someone put the brake on this runaway train.
I was watching the parliamentary announcement by Hague yesterday and there could be drawn several conclusions out of it, that the UK were not going to let Israel sabotage this and that Obama has said in as many words that he will push this through by executive order and will veto any attempts by congress to wreck this agreement.
This comes again at a time where the US, oil independent for the first time, is making a bigger body language suggestion that it is divesting itself of the Middle East realising the real issues lie in Asia. Fracking whether it is good for the environment or not has given America the ability to actually not be a doormat to Saudi Arabia and without a need to protect the oil in the area, Israel is no longer going to be needed as a secure airstrip. I think the Israeli’s should really take note of this and instead of threatening the US, perhaps realise that there could be a time when America isn’t going to be a bully for them anymore.
What perhaps hasn’t occurred to anyone in great detail yet is Iran is there, a virgin territory, it has oil to sell and maybe one day it could be needing western goods in trade, who ever plucks Iran’s virginity could make a heap of money.
Israel watchers might too be heartened over Hagues announcement in that the Speaker of the house admonished Hague for “someone” giving the texts of his announcement to the Conservative Friends of Israel long before the announcement was made, apparently this is a serious breach of parliamentary protocol and Bercow pulled Hague over the coals on this.
A Labour MP rose too and asked what were the chances of forcing Israel to allowing itself to be inspected by the IAEA and signing the NNPT, Hague’s answer was that diplomacy was the art of making the impossible possible… he said however there was impossible and waggling his eyebrows the impossible suggesting that Israel would never accede to either but there was no complicit denial of Israel’s nuclear weapons which seems to be a new trend of Israeli allies not playing their ambiguity game by proxy.
Iran gets billions and our people get food stamp cuts. Good job Amerika.