E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Tim Chong / Reuters file
The Delvar, a Malta-flagged Iranian crude oil supertanker, is seen anchored off Singapore on March 1, 2012.
LONDON - Iran is using old tankers, saved from the scrapyard by foreign middlemen, to ship out oil to China in ways that avoid Western sanctions, say officials involved with sanctions who showed Reuters corroborating documents.
The officials, from states involved in imposing sanctions to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program, said the tankers - worth little more than scrap value - were a new way for Iran to keep its oil exports flowing by exploiting the legal limitations on Western powers' ability to make sanctions stick worldwide.
Officials showed Reuters shipping documents to support their allegation that eight ships, each of which can carry close to a day's worth of Iran's pre-sanctions exports, have loaded Iranian oil at sea. Publicly available tracking and other data are consistent with those documents and allegations.
"The tankers have been used for Iranian crude," one official said. "They are part of Iran's sanctions-busting strategy."
Dimitris Cambis, the Greek businessman who last year bought the ships - eight very large crude carriers, or VLCCs - to carry Middle East crude to Asia, flatly denied doing any business with Tehran or running clandestine shipments of its oil to China.
Cambis said he had not been involved in shipping before but had bought the tankers as part of a new venture he runs from the United Arab Emirates. He denied trading with Iran - though he has contacts there from his previous work in the oil industry.
Related story: Skulduggery at sea: Iran uses tankers off Malaysia to evade oil embargo
He denied his vessels have loaded oil from Iran while at anchor in the Gulf. Known as ship-to-ship transfers, or STS, such movements are hard to track as crews can switch off tracking beacons or not update their recorded positions for periods to conceal that one vessel has come alongside another.
Cambis also explained a stop in Iran by one of his tankers - recorded in publicly available tracking data - as having been only for an emergency repair, not to load an oil cargo.
"There is no Iranian vessel that has done any STS with us," Cambis told Reuters in Athens in response to the officials' allegations of taking oil from Iranian tankers owned by Tehran shipping group NITC. "We have nothing to do with NITC."
The officials involved with sanctions dispute his account and showed documents detailing several ship-to-ship loadings. They said all eight of the tankers were involved in Iran trade.
In one instance in early December, according to the shipping documents shown to Reuters by the officials, an NITC tanker named Marigold loaded Iranian crude onto the Leycothea, one of Cambis's eight ships, while both were at anchor off the UAE emirate of Sharjah. Public tracking showed Cambis's tanker made a call about a month later to Zhanjiang oil terminal in China.
Loading at sea lets vessels pick up a cargo without visiting the country of origin of the crude. Officials allege the tankers are also used as offshore storage for Iranian oil which can then be transferred onward to other ships, concealing its origins.
Officials in Iran, which rejects Western allegations it is seeking nuclear weapons, did not respond to requests for comment.
Muddying waters
Experts on sanctions law said that by operating outside the European Union, ship-owners had no clear obligation to observe rules barring EU companies from buying Iranian oil, though banks and insurers with EU or U.S. business ties are giving a wide berth to firms they suspect of dealing with Iran, given U.S. and EU efforts to penalize such firms within their own jurisdiction.
"Such ships would be used to delete traces of a trade taking place," a London-based ship broker said.
While Iran has its own substantial tanker fleet, capable of carrying over 72 million barrels, the 2 million barrels that each of the eight tankers can move would be a useful addition to its capacity, analysts said - particularly as their foreign ownership and management could help conceal the Iranian origin of the oil, making it easier to obtain insurance, finance and other ship services that are affected by EU and U.S. sanctions.
Cambis said that between August and November he bought the eight ships: Leycothea, Glaros, Nereyda, Ocean Nymph, Seagull, Zap, Ocean Performer and Ulysses I. The first five are now managed by his firm, Sambouk Shipping, in Sharjah and he is in the process of transferring management of the remaining three.
In other movements indicated by the shipping documents, the Nereyda was also involved in a separate ship-to-ship transfer with NITC's Rainbow in the Gulf in November, while the Glaros took an offshore transfer from the Marigold there in December.
The Nereyda was later recorded arriving at a terminal in China in December. The Glaros appears to have remained in the Gulf since that December transfer, according to tracking data.
Asked about publicly available ship tracking data showing that the Glaros stopped at Iran's Larak Island oil terminal on October 20 last year, Cambis provided what he said was an affidavit by the ship's master describing an emergency repair carried out by Iranian divers when the tanker was headed to Saudi Arabia.
The master, named as I. Bonoutas, could not be reached for comment. Cambis denied loading any oil in Iran. After its stop at Larak, Glaros's next recorded visits, according to ship tracking data, were at Chinese ports between November 24 to December 1.
The eight tankers, built up to 20 years ago, can carry about 16 million barrels of oil among them, shipping databases show.
Iranian crude exports declined to an average of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2012, down about 1 million bpd from 2011 levels, data from the International Energy Agency showed.
NITC blacklisted
The eight tankers were bought last year for a total of about $204 million, ship trading sources said - reflecting prices only 3-4 percent above their worth as raw metal. The purchases have been the object of considerable discussion among ship brokers - not least because they would more typically have been broken up.
A ship dealer based in London said, however: "They can carry on trading for as long as people are willing to employ them.
"There's really not much that any authorities can do."
NITC has been blacklisted by the West and the EU has imposed an outright ban on providing ship insurance that would benefit Iran. The exit from Iran of top providers of ship certification, vital for port access, and the removal of Iranian vessels from international registries have added to operational challenges.
While NITC has expanded its fleet in recent months, experts say access to additional foreign tankers would give Tehran more flexibility in maintaining exports.
"The key word for the Iranians is resistance as in the Supreme Leader's declaration of a resistance economy," said Scott Lucas, a specialist on Iran at Birmingham University.
"This is not an economy which is going to produce growth but it is one which is going to try and avoid a domestic collapse."
More related stories
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Leave a Comment:
Once they enter International waters, board and commandeer the vessel. Then sail it back to Iran and tell them to unload it. Once the ship is completely empty of oil, sink it in their harbor.
Almost Billy Bob, sail the captured vessels to any US refinery to pay for the police work we do every day. Then let them go back to get more. Like a drug seizure that is useful.......
This administration and the NEW head of the DOD will do NOTHING about this issue.
Heck, maybe they will send Kerry to Tehran to talk "peace".
Wouldn't it be a shame if one of those old clunkers sunk in their harbor, spilling all it's oil all over their beaches? Tisk tisk. What a shame.
Ido.....
Go cry somewhere else, the current administration is running crircles around the former, and that is with all you tea baggers hanging around Obama's heels trying to slow him down.
Now as for action, I second Sane Central, except I'd rather not see an environmental disaster on our hands that Iran is likely incapable of cleaning up. However, that said, I think we could certainly sink some empties or bind up the propellers at sea to strand them when full. We'd just have an American or EU tanker help offload the stranded ship and force the shipping company to prove its oil onboard legally left an authorized port. If they are carrying Iranian crude, post STS, then they wouldn't have legit papers to prove that it came from an acceptable exporting country.
This is a prime example of why the sanctions are not and will not work. Iran continues to find ways around the sanctions and there are plenty of countries who are more than willing to work with Iran under the table. These countries and companies are willing to do this because they can get the oil cheaper than they could otherwise get it. This is because Iran has a limited market and the customers it has demand discounts for taking the risks of dealing with the Iranians. The STS oil transfers have been going on for quite some time with China being the end recipient of most of the Iranian oil. Of course Obama does not have the balls to put China on notice and impose penalties against China for doing business with Iran in violation of UN sanctions that the Chinese agreed to and voted for. It is time to stop the nonsense with sanctions and negotiations and put a stop to Iran's nuclear program once and for all.
JS,
Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think China agreed to the sanctions. The sanctions were vetoed by China and Russia.
One more reason to not buy ANYTHING MADE IN CHINA!
WAKE UP AMERICA
Isn't it great?
The Iranian government hate us. The Chinese buy their oil and are making all sorts of plastic crap out of the oil and sell it to us, widening the trade gap, while they hack our computer systems.
Another problem (Iranian nuke) invented to manipulate oil prices higher and higher.
Pakis sold nuclear technology to Iran, N. Korea and Libya's Gadhaffi.
Iranians can get/buy as many nukes as they want from Pakis.
What an irony: Pakis nuke are not dangerous, but Iranian nukes are dangerous!
For high oil prices manipulations and Iraqi wars, similar jokes as are being done in Iran were done!
Let there be some variations even in giving excuses for sanctions on Iranian oil and high oil prices.
This Iranian oil sanction works about as well as our tax code. As soon as Congress creates a tax they create a loophole. Iran will always find a way around these sanctions just like Iraq did. When there is money to be made politics will always come in second.
Good for Iran. Since they have not violated even one aspect of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, the US nor any other country has a right to place sanctions. Iran has permitted UN inspectors to view their enrichment facilities, as required of any nation that signs the NPT.
It is immoral to punish a nation for activities they are allowed to do by international laws. We ask them to prove they do not want a nuclear bomb, which is asking them to prove a negative, which is an impossibility. The sanctions are imposed only because of Jewish pressure and bills written by Jewish Congressmen in the US.
If Iran was allowed to sell their oil in free competition, it would lower oil prices around the world. The Iranian market would be a great place for the US to sell our goods. Best of all, we wouldn't have to suppport Iran, as we do the parasites in Israel. Muslims in Iran support themselves, while Israeli Jews like to live high off the American taxpayers, while America goes bankrupt. Check the figures here:
Israel's economy is
thriving in a global economic meltdown. The Jewish state's 2009-12 economic
growth of 14.7 percent leads all the advanced countries of the world, followed
by Australia with 10.7; Canada 4.8; United States 3.2; Germany 2.7; France 0.3;
European Union minus 1.5 percent.
ralph
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...
flogox88,
As long as China and Russia maintain representation in the UN they are BOUND by those votes, whether they agree with them or not. Otherwise, let them take their toys and go home, it works for the GOP. I wouldn't be too upset to see China and North Korea off the UN rolls.
Russia and China do as they wish no matter what the rest of the world thinks about it. There is little difference between the former Soviet Union and the current Russian administration, Puten is a former member of the Proletariate.
The US is dealing with the same issues with both parties doing what they want regardless of what the voters, or even their own peers say.
I happen to agree with IXLR8, when Iranian Oil hits international waters, we sieze, sell it ourselves and split the profits with all the UN members who support the sanctions and do what they are supposed to do regardless of whether they agree with the sanctions against Iran or not.
Military man, I guess you believe in theft and those who want to bomb Iran believe in murder and war crimes.
Where are the Somali pirates when you need them?
Maybe there is an Iran connection there, who knows maybe China and Russia have something to do with it.
You seriously think Paki' nukes and their 'house of cards' government doesn't scary the crap outta the Pentagon?
@flogox88 - Actually, Russia and China did agree to the sanctions, otherwise they would never have passed in the Security Council. Both Russia and China have veto power in the Security Council. China most definitely did agree to the sanctions on Iran and should be abiding by those resolutions. Unfortunately, this is fairly typical behavior for the Chinese. They agreed to the sanctions and then agreed to do business under the table with Iran so long as Iran gave them a good discount for their troubles. China has done the same thing with the sanctions against North Korea. They are completely two-faced about it. They publicly support the sanctions and try and act like a good world citizen while in private they continue to deal with the sanctioned parties where it is of economic benefit for them to do so. The only sanctions that China and Russia have used their veto power to block lately are the ones against Assad.
Wait for them to get to international waters, board them, ask for paperwork concerning the oils port of origin and if they can't provide it impound the ship for violating international freight laws.
Or board them transfer the oil to another ship and then start a new coral sanctuary.
to all who bash iran on selling oil. first the unilateral sanctions put on iran is not legal and it is not a un passed resolution so other countries don't have to abide by it. 2nd if iran don't find a way to sell it's oil we all have to pay alot lot more than what we pay now for any petrochemical products like oil and gas. iran finding a way to sell its oil will keep the market balanced and if they don't then chinese , japanese, indians, south korians all have to find a new market and they will take so much oil out of the market that will increase the oil price to well above $200/barrel.just remeber that before obama took over the wh, the price of oil was $45/barrel and we paid under $2/gallon for gas. after he put all these sanctions on iran banks and oil now the oil is $118/barrel and we pay $4/gallon for gas. Iran is not losing the battle. they sell less oil, but bring in more money because of the inflated prices. but the ultimate winners and are saudi's and gulf arab nations. I am talking about the saudis who are the mother of all terrorists, the saudi's who created and supply alqaeda, wahabis, salfis , jihadis and more. and finally. check out :the Iran-Turkey-Brazil Joint Declaration"obama offered a deal to iranian in 2009 and the iranian accepted the deal, but obama under the pressure from neo cons pulled out of the deal and opted for more sanctions.here is a report from guardian..http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2010/may/17/iran-brazil-turkey-nuclear
millitaryman.... first. north koria has no rolls in un security . 2nd you think u.s dosen't do anything they want in un. actually not only u.s does what they want, they also bully other nations to do what u.s tells them. 3rd you talk like there is no law around the world. you say "I happen to agree with IXLR8, when Iranian Oil hits international waters, we sieze, sell it ourselves and split the profits" which is the stupidest thing to do. first most iranian oil is escorted by some sort of millitary, 2nd the iranian could do the same thing to other oil tankers if not worse they have the capability to close the strait of hurmoz"all they need to do is sink a few oil tankers there and they would choke the world from the oil". come down your hi hourse.iran is actually making its own oil tankers now and it wont be long before they are 100% independence. there is a reason why iranian survived more than 3000 years and that is the adaptaion and flexability they poses.
Have John McCain crash-land a few more planes onto them.
That'll stop 'em!
Duuuuuh.....
McCain DID NOT crash land any planes on ANY CARRIER.
Get you dad gum facts straight.
So Ido how many tours did you do with party boy John? What you don't personally know him, what a shock. Party boy was well known in the fleet for being an almost average pilot. Daddy Admiral protected him everewere he went. He bailed out of several fighter jets (they crash landed) he was waved off from carrier landings far to often and some of his landings were so hard major repairs were needed to his jet. Maybe you can explain why to this day the full report about the USS Forrestal fire is still kept classified by John himself.
By the way Celtic never mentioned crashing on a carrier. To quote a very self important person.........Get you dad gum facts straight.
LOl
McCain and co have to consult oil companies and arms industry before doing anything.
Hillary, John Kerry and co have to consult Jewish lobby in addition to the above!
Let them all wear seventh century desert dresses and consult bosses oil rich Sunni rulers, House of Saud before they talk and do something!
McCain had absolutely nothing to do with the cause of the fire on the carrier. Have you seen the actual real time film of flight deck operations going on when the fire started? I have, because it's included in safety briefs for those working on flight decks. The film shows McCain climbing out of his aircraft which is parked in a pack of other aircraft. That's a cheap shot at McCain.
Zhena
Watching those films have been a boot camp standard for 50 years. It's the rest of the films that are kept classified that show John boy doing a "Wet Start" cooking off the rocket behind him. 134 Sailors died that day and to this day the full investigation is classified and kept there by John himself.
Yeah little boy Joe the sap. I would like to have your azz for just five minutes in a fighter aircraft and watch you scream and cry begging me to get you on the ground. It's pussy's like you that real men have to fight for.
Hay gringo I see all you can do is try to belittle people. 40 years ago I would have taken you up on that. Your the type that can't look someone in the eye, pull the trigger and just walk away. You have to be at 40 thousand feet to feel safe when you kill someone. My bet is former USAF and never hit the deck of a Bird Farm. Until you know what its like to catch a wire on a pitching deck at night you don't have a clue. So please climb back in your bottle and leave posting to people who address the issues. And yes I did serve in Uncle Sam's Yacht Club at he same time as party boy John but thank god not with him.
If they say they didn't buy the oil from Iran...
...make them prove who they DID buy it from. This is the modern world. A legitimate sale will leave a paper trail.
So, China cheats, Iran cheats, North Korea cheats, the Pakkis cheat . . . what else is new? Maybe we wait until they are in ballast and then beach them in Somalia. I hear that they have a collection of tankers.
In the modern world, not think, talk and act as not paid servants of some oil companies, arms industries and their lobbyists.
Let us do some modern and independent thinking on what is good for us.
""The tankers have been used for Iranian crude," one official said. "They are part of Iran's sanctions-busting strategy.""
Remove sanctions on Iranian oil to crash oil prices to weaken enemy No.1, Sunni Islamists and reduce our economic hardships.
Just like before each Iraqi wars, autocratic, highly corrupt and despotic bigoted Sunnis of versions belonging to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwaiti and Sunni oil rich nations are stage managing their dances and actions through oil companies, extremist Jewish lobbys and their puppets in the US, Britain, EU and other nations on Syria and Iran.
With sanctions on Iranian oil, oil prices which was around $40 in 2009 has crossed $110 now.
Everyone is ignoring that Iranians can easily get/buy nukes from Pakis.
As a matter of fact, Pakis sold nuke technology to Iran, N. Korea and Libya’s Gadhaffi.
If Iraqi wars gave us PIIGS, there will more nations added to PIIGS due to sanctions on Iranian oil.
mspielman ..they don't deny buying oil from iran. these are unilateral sanctions not passed by the un security counsil and other countries don't have to abide by them. you guys watch too much movies and last touch with reality. u.s is on its last leg to preserve the petro dallar and can't demand chinses and indians to stop dealing with iran. If u.s put sanction on china, india, south koria, turkey and japan who all buy iran's oil , that would be the end for u.s. the world can go on w/o u.s, but u.s can't go on w/o the world . just remeber that.
BillyBob, I was going to be harsher, but that is a good plan.
An "accidental" fire on board or an "accidental" mid-water collision can be arranged. Then the rest of the fleet will stay in Greece.
Farideh's answer to Iran is kill, kill, kill. That is the Zionist solution to every problem. Accidental fires, false flag attacks, its the Zionist way.
Tell me again how well negotitations go with the Iranians. Oh, that's right.
Iranian radical ralph -
Iranian theocratic regime, which you are a part of, is packed with murderous, filthy pedophile thugs and you, as always, divert the blame to "zionists" to defend your hind side. Your criminal ayatollahs steal money from illegal oil deals - people's money - and stash the money in their european accounts for the doomsday.
Enough of your ignorant "zionist" rant. Get a real job and you will be happier.
farideh you keep calling ralph iranian radical, but unaware that you yourself are more radical than ralph is. please explain radical and then compare it to yourself. I agree that this regime is crimial, but these sanctions are not punishing the government. the ordinary people are the ones who are being punished the most. the oil deals are not illegal.perhaps illegal for u.s corporations, but the snactions put on irans oil and banks are unilateral sanctions and not passed by u.n security counsil. I don't believe you give a damn about iranian people as you advocate more harm uppon them which is a shame to have such ill feeling for your homeland people. but take a look in the mirror again and see if you are not radical yourself.
Well as they say, there are many ways to skin a cat.
Where are those pesky Somali pirates when you really need them?
Are you kidding? Iran is financing them. Have you EVER heard of any Iranian shipping that has been targetted?
millitaryman... you are so stupid. yes I have heard iranian ships targetted by somalian. actually in 2012 iranian ship was rescued by american from somalis pirates. don't go spread lies .you know what they say, if you have nothing to say, then don'y say anything. here is a link for you..http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57353833/u.s-rescues-iranian-ship-held-by-pirates/ and don't forget that iranian have also returned the favor a few times as well.
Those tricky Iranians. Always a step ahead of those who do not with them well.
Watching the Iranians lead Obama around by the nose would be amusing, if it wasn't so tragic.
.
What an ignorant thing to suggest.
Oh Steven......
Still sour about losing in November? It's about time you guys cleaned up all of your empty kleenex boxes and got back to work. We really don't want to hear you guys cry for another four years AGAIN! The way your party's going these days, you're probably going to be crying for more than 4.
Obama is being played by the Iranians.
Nothing Obama has done has kept the Iranians from their pursuit of nukes.
.
Steven,
What would you suggest, I see a lot of criticizing, but I have never seen any potential ways to deal with it.
We could use the John McCain play book and use military action...without defense financing, that would go over like a lead balloon.
Drone strikes? less expensive, but world sentiment is iffy right now. That would be the route I would suggest. But, anything we do would have to be after we exhaust all doplamatic options, which is what the President is doing. Unless Tehran attacks our ships in the Gulf, we really don't have any cause for military options.
Doing what Bush did in Iraq in 2003 is why the rest of the world won't trust us as it is.
Steven B obviously wants another war, 'cuz wars solve everything.
check iran declaration and you'll see that it wasn't iran who backed out of negotiation, but it was obama under pressure from republican neocons who backed out of a deal that he himself proposed to iran after the iranian accepted that. here is a link..http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2010/may/17/iran-brazil-turkey-nuclear
And those Communist Chinese acting like such capitalists to get a cheap oil deal. They have no shame and laugh at UN sanctions...........
If I were the Chinese, I'd be buying it at a loss to Iran. Make Iran lose $ just to get rid of it. China has generally been growing as an economy due to its lack of respect for international laws, but every dog has his day.
The one thing you all are forgetting and of course it was a small story was that China purchased a deep sea port from the Pakies just recently. I wonder if that fits into what is happening here. I also wonder when/if China is going to in our debt to them now wouldn't that be the "cats meow" so to say. Our government should have taken care of Iran a long time ago and now it might be to late thanks to elected officials, who can't find their butts. Look China is in an Industrial Rev like we were and as we are hurting right now China stands to come out on top unless we turn things around, I can't see that happening with our current admin who keeps on insisting that spending is the only way to go, it is not and raising taxes is not the way to go either. You will not bring back the off shore jobs if you keep raising taxes and regulations on the companies that create those jobs. I have been in a company that has done that. Why do you think companies are using temp services? They have the temps for 6 months to a year and than they are gone and a new group comes in, no unemployment or benefits. Think about it and that along with off shore stuff, some good stuff huh.
stockcar... the difference between china and us is that they don't go to wars to acchieve their gole. they go and negotiate deals that is beneficials to both sides vs u.s which wants to take over everything by force. since the WWII we have been to more than 60 wars..the chinese look after their best interest while making deals, the u.s has to look for israeli interests while making deals. our congress in infested with israeli and neocons agents. they don't care about american people.they care about corporations and israel and thats about it. why the hell do we need 165 millitary bases around the world. chinese and russians are doing just fine w/o having no millitary base in other countries. they also don't have their federal reserve bank owned by private banking corporations which can print money from thin air and then lend it to both government and people with huge interests. they have a balanced gdp, not like here that we spend twice as much as we make.this system has been also implemented on people and now people are spending the money they don't have on things they don't need. there is going to be a change. the petrodollar will eventually collapse and the sooner these moron politicians accept this fact the sooner we can overcome this nightmare.
You wonder why america is being attacked by the world? 9/11 etc
Why don't you tell us?
You wonder why America Retaliates?
I don't blame them.
This just proves the sanctions are only hurting the civilian population.
Unfortunately, that is Iran's choice, to hurt it's own citizens by ostracising itself from the rest of the civilized world, all in the name of nuclear arms. The sanctions should squeeze average Iranian citizens, and hard, because they are going to be the only ones capable of changing their country. They did it radically in the 70's, so it's possible they will do it again. Military action is not an option at this point, so only the people of Iran have the ability to force regime change.
You pay full price for gas while the Chinese get discounted Iranian oil. Who is winning?
sleuth... actually you are dead wrong. in 2009 obama offered iran a deal and iranian accepted that deal, but then obama under pressure from neocons turmed down the deal.. here is a link from gaurdian with details about the deal...http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2010/may/17/iran-brazil-turkey-nuclear
Lift the sanctions, make peace with Iran, help them build better reactors, help them become a trade partner, help resolve occupation of Palestine and the Arab world will stop hating on us.
That's pretty funny. Do you not pay attention by choice? Maybe you should go talk to them.
Maybe you should go over there and nuke em and beach their tankers hang their leaders and blah blah blah, ad nauseum. These days. the only thing Americans are actually good at is day late, dollar short armchair quarterbacking. Way back when the average age of an American was under 100, poeple made signs and protested in places that matter. They risked tear gas, dogs, batons and more. Now....ooooo....you act all big and bad on a blog owned by some entertainment company masquerading as news, posting crap a 6 year old would be embarrassed to speak, masquerading as fact. Why am I posting then? Because now and then I read this drivel so I have something to point my finger at when I say "I might be shallow and pedantic but at least I'm not THAT bad".
bonez...nice solution, but that's not how the world works unfortunately. Iran does not want peace with the West and they are not persuing nuclear technology for energy production. Furhermore, we've put more time, money and energy into trying to get the Arab world to set at the table with the Jews (to resolve the Palestinian conflict) without either side pulling a gun.
If that happened the US would then have money to rebuild its infrustucture, reduce the cost of education, care for the veterans instead of spending trillions on defence.
Bonehead, yeah keep telling yourself that over and over until we all believe it too. Mark, that goes for you too.
BoneZZZZZZZzzzzzz -
Where have you been for the past 50 years - maybe in a hole I would guess. iran does not want peace and will never want peace. The game they play has been the same for thousands of years they will always play by their own rules.
The rule we need to play by is:
Hit hard hit fast hit often. Only rules they'll understand.
FU iran you suck.
Feedup,
I would quantify your statement as "The Ayatollahs" will never want peace, at least not until the state of Islam is established-in other words, world domination. Peace will happen when the rest of the world is Muslim.
I don't say this to denigrate all Muslims, just the fanatics. Once the Ayatollahs spread the Muslim faith, and have killed anyone who won't convert, they will then turn on the Sunni and other off-shoots of the Muslim religion, anyone not of Persian decent to include all Arabs.
Aint that a charming picture of the future?
feedup ... where have you been. first of all up to 1979 iran was america's best ally in me. 2nd were you asleep when in 2009 obama offered a deal to the iranian and as soon as they accepted the deal, obama under pressure from republican neocons pulled out of the deal. don't forget that sometimes the harder you hit, the harder it comes back at you. here is a link from gaurian incase you were asleep.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2010/may/17/iran-brazil-turkey-nuclear
Once again China, shows its arrogance to the world.....
Tag the oil with a tracer and impose extreme tariffs on every thing made from it coming from China. Directly offset the US debt to China by the same amount - no money has to change hands. If they don't want to play nice - then play dirty. When there are no customers for the Iranian oil it will stop being sold.
Nuke'm
We should not bother restricting them. Iran is on the record for saying they do not want the bomb, so, lets tell them the first test detonation we detect we will nuke their capital.
If Russia and China do not like it, they can go ahead and join the party on behalf of Iran, but once they get a weapon Iran will eventually use it, so we really have nothing to lose.
Asia hasn't imposed any sanctions on Iran. The story is about Greek ships breaking the european sanctions.
Just blockade them. OF course, soon they won't have any oil to barter with as Israel will destroy all their nuclear facilities with nukes of their own and at the same time destroy all their oil facilities so that they are broke. Guaranteed to happen this year.
Seems to me, sanctions are like calling the bad guys up to declare war but putting them on hold before you finish the sentence. We all know where this is going.
Sanctions are nothing less than economic warfare against Iran by the U.S. and others. We don't like what they do and so we and our allies impose economic "sanctions" against the government of Iran, the whole purpose of which is to attempt to change their behavior.
How does that seem to be working out?
Of course, the people in power seem to be doing just fine while the little people are the ones who suffer the most.
Iran's oil belongs to them and they can sell it to whoever they want to, international economic terrorism notwithstanding. Of course they look for work-arounds. They have to sell their oil and we know it....hence the sanctions.
What ever Iran does it has help.
I see the hawks are out in force. What do you think gives the west the right to impose their own sanctions on other countries? If Iran wants to sell oil to China and China wants to buy oil from Iran that's their business. As I remember the EU and US sanctions were the ones against oil exports not the UN sanctions so we really have no authority to block this under any kind of international law.
So the Chinese cyber terrorists otherwise known as the Chinese government issupporting the Iranian nuclear terrorists otherwise known as the Iranian government.
Uh Domewars, how can you call Iran a nuclear terrorist, when they don't possess nukes and our intelligence agencies say they are not working on a nuclear weapons program? You are totally clueless and should give up posting, until you gather the facts.
Uh Ralph, Iran has deep underground facilities where their weapons programs are working in secret. So how can you definitively say they are not? They have more or less threatened Israel with annihilation a few dozen times. They have some of the largest reserves of crude oil & natural gas on Earth, why do they NEED nuclear power. I feel like your head is buried in the sand. If your last name is Chamberlain, change it to Churchill. I'm not advocating war with Iran, but I'm not gullible enough to believe them either. Why are you defending a belligerent nation that helps dictators like Assad slaughter his own citizens?
uh macdeezy... all irans nuclear facilities are equiped with live cameras 24/7 by iaea, all their enriched uranium is acounted for. there are inspections twice a month scheduled by iaea and also random inspections are being done as well. and as far as we know all 16 u.s intelligence agencies agree that iran is not working to make a bomb. the reserve oil and gas has nothing to do with electricity which they need. it was u.s who actually innitiated their nuclear plants in early 1970s way before this government took over. you are the one who is hiding his head in the sand and yes your comments which are baseless is advocating war. I suggest that you read this article so you know that iran is actually willing to make a deal, but it is u.s under the influence of neocons and israeli lobby who refuses to make a deal. here is a link fro gaurdian..http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2010/may/17/iran-brazil-turkey-nuclear