Israeli threats of attack sparked new wave of Iran sanctions, officials say

[dayag]

I am glad to hear about Swift's recent actions as well as China's reduction in oil purchases from Iran.

Senior officials in the Foreign Ministry believe that the latest sanctions imposed by the West against Iran result from the threats Israel issued about launching a unilateral attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities.

Yesterday, Swift, the global provider of financial services, announced that it is severing 25 Iranian banks from its systems, starting tomorrow. This dramatic move means that Iran's government will effectively have to transact its international business in cash.

A top Foreign Ministry official said that the recent rounds of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the U.S. against Iran, along with the fact that states such as Japan and South Korea have joined efforts to pressure Tehran, and also China's reduction of oil purchases from Iran, bear witness to the international community's apprehensions about an Israeli military strike. "These aren't sanctions against Iran. Instead, they are sanctions imposed by the West to curb Israel's attack plans," a senior foreign ministry official said. "Had Israel not spoken out about its intention to attack, none of this would be happening. The Iranians are frightened. You have to understand what's going on there in stores; citizens grab food off the shelves because they are worried about an impending attack. Inflation is soaring and the currency has lost half its value. All this attests to fear." ...

source: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition...s-say-1.418970

[Pleepleus]

Israeli reactions to SWIFT's decision to stop doing international bank transactions with Iran:

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said Sunday that SWIFT's decision to halt Iran's ability to use its electronic fund transfer system to make international transfers constitutes a tremendous blow that could potentially lead to the collapse of the Iranian economy.

SWIFT is the world's largest electronic payment system and on Saturday implemented its decision to cut off 30 Iranian banks blacklisted by EU supported economic sanctions. By SWIFT's own admission, the move is "extraordinary" and "unprecedented."

Speaking prior to the weekly cabinet meeting, Steinitz said that cutting Iran off from making international transfers will "make importing and exporting very difficult" for Tehran.

Steinitz stated that the move makes receiving money for billion dollar oil transactions impossible...

Earlier on Sunday, Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said that the cumulative impact of the oil and SWIFT sanctions may soon reach the point of convincing the Iranian regime that it can only survive by abandoning its push for nuclear weapons.

Shalom stated that Israel is satisfied with SWIFT's decision and estimated that within a few weeks, the impact on the Iranian economy would become apparent.

Shalom told Army Radio that the decision is likely to prove decisive in the struggle against Iran's [nuclear] arms race. “Iran is progressing with its nuclear weapons program in order to safeguard the regime's rule. But the moment that the sanctions become this severe, first with oil and now with [money] transfers, perhaps we will get to a point where they will understand that only abandoning the [nuclear weapons] program will allow the regime to survive,” said Shalom.

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/N...aspx?id=262306

[JerichoMissile]

None of these attempts will work, north korea was completely secluded from the world, and they built an indigenous bomb, so too will iran, these people only understand force and violence, i dont understand why israel and the world continue down the road of appeasement.

[Pleepleus]

None of these attempts will work, north korea was completely secluded from the world, and they built an indigenous bomb, so too will iran, these people only understand force and violence, i dont understand why israel and the world continue down the road of appeasement.

That is incorrect, JerichoMissile. And the sanctions on Iran are hardly appeasement.

The founder of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb program asserts that the government of North Korea bribed top military officials in Islamabad to obtain access to sensitive nuclear technology in the late 1990s.

Abdul Qadeer Khan has made available documents that he says support his claim that he personally transferred more than $3 million in payments by North Korea to senior officers in the Pakistani military, which he says subsequently approved his sharing of technical know-how and equipment with North Korean scientists.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...H1H_story.html