The foolish leaders of America and Iran would be wise to simmer down tensions in the region, draw away from accusatory stances, and behave like responsible states for once in their history. If not, both the bankrupt U.S. empire and the bankrupt Islamic Republic will be destroyed in any coming war along with their pet obsession Israel.
An excerpt from, "Obama: Iran not following 'spirit' of deal" By Julian Hattem, The Hill, April 1, 2016:
President Obama on Friday criticized Iranian leaders for undermining the “spirit” of last year’s historic nuclear agreement, even as they stick to the “letter” of the pact.An excerpt from, "Most Iranians Approve Nuclear Deal, Doubt U.S. Compliance" By Jim Lobe, February 3, 2016:
In comments following the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Obama denied speculation that the United States would ease rules preventing dollars from being used in financial transactions with Iran, in order to boost the country’s engagement with the rest of the world.
Instead, Obama claimed, that Iran’s troubles even after the lifting of sanctions under the nuclear deal were due to its continued support of Hezbollah, ballistic missile tests and other aggressive behavior.
“Iran so far has followed the letter of the agreement, but the spirit of the agreement involves Iran also sending signals to the world community and businesses that it is not going to be engaging in a range of provocative actions that are going to scare businesses off,” Obama said at a press conference.
“When they launch ballistic missiles with slogans calling for the destruction of Israel, that makes businesses nervous.”
“Iran has to understand what every country in the world understands, which is businesses want to go where they feel safe, where they don’t see massive controversy, where they can be confident that transactions are going to operate normally,” he added. “And that’s an adjustment that Iran’s going to have to make as well.”
Nearly six months after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 was agreed, seven out of ten Iranians approve of the deal, but only 34% believe the U.S. will comply with its terms, according to a new poll released here Wednesday by the University of Maryland’s Center for International & Security Studies (CISSM).An excerpt from, "Banks still afraid of US fines to process Iran deals" Press TV, March 23, 2016:
Conducted on the eve of the JCPOA’s “Implementation Day” last month and roughly eight weeks before critical parliamentary elections in Iran, the survey found that President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif enjoy remarkably high approval ratings among the public – 82% and 78%, respectively – although those results were down slightly from a similar poll taken in August, just after the JCPOA was concluded.
Diminishing optimism about the economy – including the speed with which the JCPOA will pay off in providing new investment and employment – and some disappointment with the deal itself ma account for some of that decline, according to Ebrahim Mohseni, the survey’s director.
Despite the January removal of economic sanctions against Iran, global enterprises are still complaining that trade with the country is still difficult as a result of lingering fears of US punitive actions.
Reuters in an exclusive report has quoted business leaders as saying that a key obstacle which is specifically affecting business with Iran is the unwillingness of international banks to process transactions with the country.
US banks are still forbidden to do business with Iran and while lenders based elsewhere are not covered by this ban, major problems remain, emphasized the report. Chief among these are rules prohibiting transactions in dollars from being processed through the US financial system, it added.
