The US and EU are touting Iran’s currency woes as proof that sanctions are working, though it’s not clear to what end. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Western powers “are working on new coordinated measures intended to accelerate the recent plunge of Iran’s currency and drain its foreign-exchange reserves”:

The first [...]]]> via Lobe Log

The US and EU are touting Iran’s currency woes as proof that sanctions are working, though it’s not clear to what end. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Western powers “are working on new coordinated measures intended to accelerate the recent plunge of Iran’s currency and drain its foreign-exchange reserves”:

The first salvos in this stepped-up sanctions campaign are expected at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Oct. 15, including a ban on Iranian natural-gas exports and tighter restrictions on transactions with Tehran’s central bank, European officials said.

The U.S. and EU are also considering imposing a de facto trade embargo early next year by moving to block all export and import transactions through Iran’s banking system ….

To that end, U.S. lawmakers are drafting legislation that would require the White House to block all international dealings with Iran’s central bank, while also seeking to enforce a ban on all outside insuring of Iranian companies.

David Cohen, who coordinates the US’s Iran sanctions policy from within the Treasury, outlined the US’s stance in a speech before a British think tank. Reuters reports:

[David] Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, added in remarks on a visit to Britain’s Chatham House think-tank that Iran had the ability to “relieve the pressure its people are feeling” by resolving concerns over its nuclear work.

“What in particular has sparked the most recent precipitous decline in the rial, I’m not in a position to say on a granular basis,” he said, adding however that over the past year it had fallen substantially.

The Washington Post also reported that EU officials are “even more blunt” over the intentions behind the sanctions:

One senior European official said the goal of the tightened sanctions was to “bring the Iranian economy to its knees,” and to “make it in a way that really hurts the regime more than the population. That is very difficult.”

But US officials are also attempting to downplay the negative effects of the sanctions by blaming the regime. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said yesterday that “[t]he Iranian state has horribly mismanaged all aspects of their internal situation.” Cohen told the Chatham House audience that the unrest in Iran “is undoubtedly in significant part due to the Iranian government’s own mismanagement of its economy and it is in part due to the effect of sanctions. The Iranian leadership has within its capacity the ability to relieve the pressure its people are feeling.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered the following qualifier:

“They have made their own government decisions– having nothing to do with the sanctions– that have had an impact on the economic conditions inside of the country,”" Mrs. Clinton said. “Of course, the sanctions have had an impact as well, but those could be remedied in short order if the Iranian government were willing to work with. . .the international community in a sincere manner.”

Anyone who has ever felt the fear of flying needs to imagine what it must have been like to be in this Iran Air B727 when it landed without its two front tires! As someone who has been forced to travel in Iranian airplanes, I can tell you that this clip made my stomach [...]]]>

Anyone who has ever felt the fear of flying needs to imagine what it must have been like to be in this Iran Air B727 when it landed without its two front tires! As someone who has been forced to travel in Iranian airplanes, I can tell you that this clip made my stomach turn much more than it does when I fly in them.

Due to the pilot’s incredible skills, these passengers were relatively lucky, unlike the many Iranians that been killed in a series of frequent crashes that have occurred over the years, the last one taking the lives of 77 people earlier in January.

Iranian planes are very old and lack new parts for repairs and replacements due to sanctions which prevent the government and private Iranian companies from purchasing what’s needed to keep them safe and up to date. It’s too early to say exactly what forced the plane to land without its nose gear, but is this a likely scenario in countries that are allowed to properly tend to their passenger aircraft? Why don’t planes crash as often as they do in Iran in other oil rich countries such as Saudi Arabia or Egypt?

Whatever the reasons for this particular event, it once again raises the question of how sanctions against Iran are impacting ordinary Iranians. Last year Secretary of State Hillary Clinton explained that the U.S.’s “goal” was to “pressure the Iranian government, particularly the Revolutionary Guard elements, without contributing to the suffering of the ordinary [Iranians]” who she says “deserve better than what they currently are receiving.”

She reiterated this sentiment in a recent interview with BBC Persian about the U.S.’s new “virtual embassy in Tehran“, arguing that sanctions are intended to convince the Iranian regime to change its behavior. But that’s not what’s happening. Economic sanctions are not only preventing Iran from updating its aircraft, they’re also negatively affecting ordinary Iranians regardless of what the stated goals are. The U.S. says it has placed economic sanctions against Iran’s main airlines, Iran Air and Mahan Air because they have allegedly supported Iran’s military, but doesn’t that amount to collective punishment when the great majority of those affected are the average people who are forced to travel on them?

Everyday life in Iran can be suffocating for a variety of reasons and one of the few escapes people have is from traveling around the country for leisure, especially since many Iranians are denied travel visas from other countries that they want to visit.

Paul Pillar and other level-headed analysts have questioned the real aim and results of sanctions on Iran, and even Iranian dissidents have criticized them, especially the kind that affect average Iranians. Pillar argues that one of the reasons why sanctions aren’t working is because the strategy and end goal behind them is unclear.

So where is the U.S. going with its sanctions, especially with the broad ranging kind such as those which would target Iran’s central bank, a move which is currently being debated in the U.S. government? Will the Iranian government start submitting to Western demands and will ordinary Iranians rise up and bring down their government because much of the world is trying to crush it, or will they simply continue to suffer, as the U.S. grows more impatient and the measures taken against Iran become more militant?