Sanctions are pushing Iran towards nuclear talks, just not US sanctions

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/24/sanctions-iran-nuclear-talks-heidi-moore


Iran's inflation-hit rial recently lost a third of its exchange value against the dollar in one week. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

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This summer, the US financial authorities fined major international banks – HSBC, Standard Chartered – for money-laundering, which included, in part, helping Iran evade US financial sanctions. Between the presidential chest-beating and the big fines, the message seemed clear: one thing, at least, is going right. America still has its old mojo. The war in Iraq didn't turn out quite right, our influence in Afghanistan may be questionable, and we may remain baffled about what to do about Benghazi and even Egypt, but when it comes to Iran, America has come out like a champ.

But, not so fast. As another iteration of President Obama might have said, "If you have successful Iranian sanctions, you didn't build that."

We owe, instead, a lot more credit to our beleaguered compatriots who run the European financial system. Iran gave up on the US years ago; America has had sanctions on Iran, in some form or another, since 1979. Getting around that was easy for Iran. Every time US authorities banned one suspicious Iranian entity, another would pop up, as quick as zucchini, and would go on doing business – most likely, in Europe.

Jim Rickards is the author of the book Currency Wars and a partner with the hedge fund JAC Capital, as well as an adviser to intelligence agencies on financial and economic issues. Of America's attempts to root out Iranian dictators and particularly Ahmedinejad, he says:

"We've tried everything: cyberwarfare, financial warfare, psychological operations, assassinations and sabotage. It's not like we haven't been trying. But because the [Ahmedinejad] regime is so brutal, so entrenched, so powerful and so rich, it has not produced the thing everyone wants, which is Iran giving up on its nuclear ambitions. It's very clear diplomacy has failed and Iranians use the promise of negotiations just to buy time."