23 thoughts on “Sanctions Help, Not Hurt Iranian Regime – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. Sanctions cripple Iran’s middle class, not the regime
    Posted By Mohammad Sadeghi Esfahlani , Jamal Abdi Thursday, August 2, 2012 – 3:26 PM

    Instead of speculating from afar, we should listen to the Iranians on the ground who are actually struggling for democracy firsthand. The leaders of the Green Movement and Iranian human rights and democracy defenders have adamantly opposed broad sanctions and warned that confrontation, isolation and broad economic punishment only undermine the cause of democracy and rule of law in Iran. A new report by the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) documents how sanctions are destroying the sources of societal change in Iran. “The urban middle class that has historically played a central role in creating change and promoting progress in Iran are key casualties of the sanctions regime,” according to the report.

    As documented by the report’s firsthand account on the ground, sanctions are not driving the working class to join Iran’s democracy movement, they are doing the opposite — decimating the Iranian middle class, that has been at the center of the democracy movement, by intensifying their economic struggles. The greatest impediment for Iran’s pro-democracy movement — as we saw at the height of the Green Movement protests in 2009 — has been that working class Iranians who are preoccupied with immediate financial struggles are unable to enlist in a struggle for political freedoms.

    http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/08/02/sanctions_cripple_irans_middle_class_not_the_regime

    Similarly incisive analysis with similar conclusions made over two months ago.

  2. But only today I heard in the news that the Iranian parliament had opposed subsidy program presented by Ahmadinejad, which means there is no money to support the poor class also.

    1. Pres. Ahmadinejad’s subsidy-reform-plan, now being somewhat opposed to by parts of the Iranian parliament, is to CUT the subsidies further, to increase the food prices, because he wanted to change the subsidies to direct cash payments to the citizens.

      So it seems from these article’s:
      Iran Committee Rejects Ahmadinejad’s Subsidy Cut Plan
      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-06/iran-committee-rejects-ahmadinejad-s-subsidy-cut-plan-mehr-says.html
      Iran’s parliament to reconsider subsidy reform
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19863486
      Ahmadinejad: Iran is successfully riding out sanctions
      http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=286331

      Quote from the latter:
      “Ahmadinejad defended his economic record on Tuesday, saying a phase-out of food and fuel subsidies that he launched in 2010, which has boosted the official inflation rate to around 25 percent, had been successful.”

    2. On the contrary Pres. Ahmadinejad’s subsidy-reform-plan is to cut the subsidies for food.
      Ahmadinejad prefers to hand out cash instead of indirect food subsidies.
      So the decrease of subsidies has been opposed in Iranian parliament.

    1. Of course.

      It took the knock on effects of the ‘Arab Spring’ to overthrow Gaddafi, and as we all well know the US had to invade Iraq in 2003 after a decade of sanctions, no fly zone and bombing failed to do the trick.

      1. …They’re both dead…

        And the Mullah’s will outlive Islamophobic neocons, Bush/Cheney, Netanyahu/Barak and the Romney/Ryan cluster you know what should they gain regency over the US.

          1. “Should who “gain regency over the US”? Mullahs? Seriously?”

            That’s sloppy thinking or maybe worse. “Should they gain regency” is specifically referencing a Romney/Ryan win on 6 November. I submit that another Republican regency will be many magnitudes worse than the multiple “strategic disasters” the Bush/Cheney team inflicted upon the US for decades, if not a generation or two.

          2. I’m not engaging in “sloppy thinking,” honestly I’m not following you. You’re going to have to explain it to me.

    2. Half a million Iraqi children died. Saddam had to be taken out by Shock & Awe. Libya is a big country with only 5 million people (thank God — if only to lower the death count). Who knows what the death toll was there and the damage?

  3. People should remember that German hyperinflation during the twenties was a key factor in preparing the way for Hitler. An Iranian hyperinflation triggered by the global zionist power structure could trigger a wave of REAL anti-semitism in Iran and possibly other Moslem states. This might put Iran’s 30000 or so Jews in deadly peril. And since many of these Jews are middle class, they stand to suffer from the sanctions even without a surge of anti-semitism.

    if people think the current Iran regime is bad, try to imagine an Iranian Hitler.

    1. You haven’t even read the linked article which makes clear that Iran is NOT suffering hyperinflation. Inflation, yes, but not hyperinflation since many Iranian staples are heavily subsidized.

      I’m not partial to terms like “global Zionist power structure.” It’s nonsense as far as I’m concerned. Watch the quasi anti-Semitic tropes.

      1. You are correct that Iran is not currently suffering from hyperinflation, but I’m afraid that is the goal of many of those pushing the sanctions regime. They might live to regret it if they get what they wish for.

        Yes perhaps the term “global Zionist power structure” can be taken as anti-semitic. But does anyone doubt that the current anti-Iran hysteria reflects to a large degree a push by AIPAC and its sister lobbies in Canada, Britain, and the EU all taking their cues from Likud?

  4. “When we conduct policy based in what we want rather than what will happen …..” – that`s a tautology, unless of course “what we want” becomes “what happens”, or, if that is too ideal, that at least it should be be better than “what we have”.

  5. The upcoming Iranian presidential election could bring significant reform if it is not meddled with and allowed to flourish on its own. For this reason, it will be meddled with by pro-war factions. No one wants to attack Israel. Maybe in their wildest dreams, but that’s complete suicide. Israel has 400+ nukes and nuclear capable submarines. Despite mistranslated rhetoric, at best, to this effect being the basis for all complaints by Israel against Iran, no one is capable of “wiping Israel off the map” without actually being wiped off also. Except, the Palestinians.

    Netanyahu doesn’t want to talk about the Palestinians. The Balfour Declaration, preserving their rights in line with the subsequent establishment of Israel within the very black letter of the document, is being abused.

    1. Which candidate do you think would win the upcoming Iranian presidential election if it is not meddled with and what significant reforms do you think that person would bring?

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