Vol. 76/No. 46      December 17, 2012

BY LOUIS MARTIN
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved Nov. 30 new economic sanctions aimed at further crippling energy, shipping and port sectors of Iran’s economy.

The House of Representatives had adopted a variant of the bill. Both bodies will have to approve a final version before it is sent to President Barack Obama to sign into law—the third round of sanctions against Iran to be enacted this year.

These measures are part of a yearslong squeeze by Washington and its allies aimed at forcing the Iranian government to stop its program of nuclear research, which the U.S. government claims is aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains the program is intended for generating electric power and medical research.

One of the main targets of the new sanctions is Turkey’s purchase in gold of Iranian natural gas, which is necessary given U.S. and European Union banking sanctions ban payments in U.S. dollars or euros. According to the Financial Times, direct Turkish gold exports to Iran reached $1.8 billion in July.

Turkey produces most of its electricity from natural gas and “takes more than 90 percent of Iran’s gas exports,” according to a Dec. 3 Reuters dispatch.

“Sanctions have reduced Iranian oil output to a 32-year low,” reported the Nov. 29 Financial Times. In 2011 Iran exported 2 million barrels a day on average, compared to 900,000 today. The value of the Iranian currency, the rial, has dropped more than 50 percent against the dollar since the beginning of the year.

“Iran is paying millions of dollars in higher costs for import of agricultural commodities, including wheat,” the Financial Times added. What traders call the Iranian premium amounts to extra costs of 5 to 10 percent above prevailing prices in the international market. As a result, prices for basic food have risen sharply since last year, hitting above all working people in the country.

Meanwhile, Tehran announced Dec. 4 it had captured a U.S. spy drone in its airspace over the Arab-Persian Gulf. The U.S. military immediately denied the report.

This followed an article in the Wall Street Journal the day before about Washington’s increased drone flights over Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor after fuel rods had been unexpectedly discharged in October.

In a letter to the U.N. last month Tehran formally protested at least eight violations of its airspace by U.S. planes.  
 
 
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