{"id":125663,"date":"2019-01-14T12:01:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T12:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=125663"},"modified":"2019-01-12T12:36:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-12T12:36:58","slug":"new-eu-sanctions-on-iran-the-plank-in-your-own-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/01\/new-eu-sanctions-on-iran-the-plank-in-your-own-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"New EU Sanctions on Iran: The Plank in Your Own Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_125664\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/iran-eu.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-125664\" class=\"wp-image-125664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/iran-eu.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/iran-eu.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/iran-eu-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-125664\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif and the EU Foreign Policy chief Frederica Mogherini<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>9 Jan 2019 &#8211; <\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.upi.com\/amp\/European-Union-issues-sanctions-on-Iran-over-assassination-plots\/2161546981759\/\" >UPI writes<\/a> that the European Union issues sanctions on Iran over assassination plots on January 8, 2019. And US Secretary of State, Pompeo, fully supports them.<\/p>\n<p>The move puts the individuals and intelligence unit on the EU terrorist list \u2013 freezing their financial assets.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a brilliant example of Matthew 7:3-6: <em>\u201cWhy do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother\u2019s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Which, it seems, is now a standard operating policy by the Western world.<\/p>\n<p>Or, one may say, an example of psycho-political projection of the West\u2019s own dark side onto this enemy today and that enemy tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Here some arguments in support of that \u2013 perhaps to some \u2013 provocative statement:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It should be clear from contemporary history\u2019s records that countries such as the UK, France and the US do infinitely more of what Iran is accused of here. (See point 4 below).<\/li>\n<li>\u201cAlleged\u201d, \u201caccused of attempting\u201d and \u201cstrong evidence\u201d are the words used by all. In other words, not a shred of hard evidence and punishment before proof. It\u2019s no good for legal states and anyone is to be considered innocent until the opposite has been proven. Thus, basic legal principles \u2013 not to speak of ethics \u2013 are set aside by politicians who, on a daily basis, teach others about what is unacceptable, or what they should do.<\/li>\n<li>The self-same countries have put economic sanctions on Iran for not one good reason beyond US order. The basic sanctions installed \u2013 in various forms and shapes since 1979 \u2013 can be categorized as terrorism as they deliberately target and hit the millions of <em>innocent<\/em> Iranian citizens.<\/li>\n<li>Has the US and all EU countries not been fighting what they consider terrorist \u2013 the Global War on Terrorism \u2013 since September 11, 2001? Don\u2019t they use tools such as CIA, special operating forces, agents to hunt down and kill those they consider a threat to their country \u2013 and don\u2019t they do so on any other country\u2019s territory if they deem it necessary? Indeed, isn\u2019t international politics filled with such cases, including systematic attempts in dozens of countries of killing people, including heads of state?<\/li>\n<li>Iran is the victim of <em>primary<\/em> sanctions by the US and EU \u2013 has been for years. And it\u2019s a victim of <em>secondary<\/em> sanctions \u2013 those that are applications of US law on other countries implying that if the US has put up sanctions against Iran, then<em> it<\/em> will punish countries \u2013 such as the EU, China, Russia \u2013 if <em>they<\/em> deal with Iran.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And the EU has been woefully split on the issue too, <em>even<\/em> unable to develop an alternative to Trumpist-CIA-State Department-Deep state constantly self-contradictory, confusing and unprincipled policies.<\/p>\n<p>And why is Iran and its people targeted? Because, since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 when the Western-installed (by a US\/UK coup d\u2019etat in 1953 against democratically elected Mossadegh) Shah was forced out and Ayatollah Khomeni took over, Iran has been considered a pariah state by the US and other Western countries and demonised ad absurdum.<\/p>\n<p>Anybody who, like the author, has visited Iran and spoken with people at different levels and walks of life, know that the Western image of Iran has frighteningly little to do with the reality there: Fake and omission united.<\/p>\n<p>That is the general background \u2013 \u201cwe don\u2019t like them and what they do to our world leadership\u201d. Simple as that.<\/p>\n<p>The present specific sanctions have been installed in the wake of the US violating international law by leaving the JCPOA agreement about Iran\u2019s nuclear policies \u2013 perhaps the single most important piece of international diplomacy and negotiated solution to a problem that could otherwise have caused war. (Not that there is any hard evidence that Iran attempted to acquire nuclear <em>weapons<\/em>, but so it is \u201calleged\u201d, not the least by Israel and the US <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/justworldbooks.com\/books-by-title\/manufactured-crisis\/\" >as pointed out so thoroughly by TFF Associate Gareth Porter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The JCPOA is embedded in a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.armscontrol.org\/factsheets\/Security-Council-Resolutions-on-Iran\" >UN Security Council resolution (2231)<\/a> and, thus, a piece of international law. So, it\u2019s the US, not Iran, that should be punished.<\/p>\n<p>all these issues are so important for understanding the conflict between Iran and the West. And why sanctions, demonization and constant threats issued (also against the UN Charter) is probably all part of a build-up to some kind of violent action on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>And, thus, you won\u2019t find such arguments in the Western mainstream media. News journalists and selected experts are either conveniently ignorant about them or know how to practise self-censorship through something much much more important than fake \u2013 namely omission.<\/p>\n<p>That is, the omission of facts, of conflict analysis, of the perspectives of \u201cthe others\u201d, of peace perspectives and of even the slightest criticism of the West\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n<p>One reason, of course, is that these media and experts are dependent on being politically correct for their survival on corporate and state support.<\/p>\n<p>And when the states plot wars in foreign lands, mainstream media follow His Master\u2019s Voice.<\/p>\n<p><em>__________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jan-oberg-e1544531797544.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-123949\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jan-oberg-e1544531797544.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/em><em>TFF Director Prof. Jan Oberg is a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/\" >TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/transnational.live\/2019\/01\/09\/new-eu-sanctions-on-iran-the-plank-in-your-own-eyes\/\" >Go to Original \u2013 transnational.live<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>9 Jan 2019 &#8211; European Union issues sanctions on Iran on January 8, 2019. The move puts the individuals and intelligence unit on the EU terrorist list \u2013 freezing their financial assets. It\u2019s a brilliant example of Matthew 7:3-6: \u201cWhy do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother\u2019s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":123949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}