US: Iran Election Proves Sanctions Working
Israel Continues to Slam Elections, Warn Against Diplomacy
US officials are trying to spin Iran’s elections, and the victory of President-elect Hassan Rohani as proof that their ongoing sanctions are “working,” and that the economic damage done scared Iranian voters into electing the diplomacy-minded cleric.
Rohani ran a campaign of domestic reform along with promising to focus on diplomacy and international rapprochement. Whether this is really what the US “wants” remains to be seen, however, as does their response to Rohani’s election.
Administration officials have been nearly mum on their intentions, and while experts are urging them to respond to overtures with a serious “olive branch,” hawks are taking the “sanctions work” message as justification for a never-ending policy of increasing sanctions.
Then there’s Israel, which has reacted angrily to the elections, expressing fear that a pro-diplomacy Iran might lead to actual diplomacy and get in the way of their goals of a war.
If Iran’s election of Rohani was indeed a response to US sanctions, an unproven assertion, it seems that it is not the response the hawks were hoping for, and whether it will mean anything depends entirely on how much Israel can push the idea of war as an end unto itself.
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@ChangeIranNow
June 20th, 2013 at 8:15 pm
Peace is a great thing, but it takes two to tango and not sure if iran is really committed when its other actions are poorly aimed at a commitment to peace. You whack 680 candidates off the ballot. You carefully trim the field to five nut jobs and one less nutty guy. You restrict access to social media and the internet. You arrest every high profile dissident. You then send out 40,000 Revolutionary Guard members to go door-to-door to round up voters and send them to the polls and if anyone doesn’t have that little ink-stained finger you were in big trouble with state police. I tell you, these guys could give Tammany Hall or a Chicago ward boss a serious run for the money. Khamenei has managed become a modern-day Boss Tweed. And the Iranian should be grateful for the election of Rouhani? I think not. To see real efforts at changing the regime, check out irangathering.com for the largest meeting of Iranians outside of Iran.
mojo
June 20th, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Yes is working and the latest news is that: due to these sanctions 20million of the Iranians are dead and another 20 millions are to be dead later in time.., thanks to the USA and EU politics that works for the people of america and terrorists sent from Berlin to Turkey then to Syria to fight the Syrian people.., this highly appreciated politics by the nations in middle east is nothing less then the falsified democracy adopted by the US and EU for last 60 years, first was hitler and now this.
jinx77
June 21st, 2013 at 2:40 am
let's quit calling the zionists war-mongers .."hawks"…that is an all out and out insult to hawks
hawks are cool…and hunt to survive
the zio war-mongers are just plain …killers
@JohnEllis02
June 21st, 2013 at 4:11 am
We force, others submit and therein be the glory of Empire,
terrorism being the lubricant that gets things done,
otherwise no longer are you an Empire.
@Unforgiven_01
June 21st, 2013 at 5:49 am
I thought I'd heard Acmadinijad had max'd out the number of terms he could run
Guess not..