Risk of war with Iran grows after decades of economic warfare by the US

Company News
Many are worried about the risk of war between the US and Iran. But the truth is, the US has been fighting with Iran for decades in an economic war waged via sanctions – which is about to get a lot worse.
Concerns about a war of guns, warplanes and missiles grew after Iran shot down a US spy drone amid already worsening tensions. President Donald Trump says he ordered a retaliatory strike in response – only to reverse course at the last minute.
Whether or not a shooting war does break out, the United States’ economic war has already been intensifying over the past year. Trump promised “major” new sanctions in response to the attack on the drone.
Existing sanctions have already devastated innocent Iranians. Not only that, they’ve undermining long-accepted principles of international cooperation and diplomacy, a topic I’ve been researching for the past 25 years.
Carrots and sticks
Many nations have recognized that sanctions work best as tools of persuasion rather than punishment.
Sanctions by themselves rarely succeed in changing the behavior of a targeted state. They are often combiUS-Iran tensionsned with diplomacy in a carrots-and-sticks bargaining framework designed to achieve negotiated solutions.

 Indeed, the offer to lift sanctions can be a persuasive inducement in convincing a targeted regime to alter its policies, as was the case when successful negotiations involving the US and Europe led to the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. That deal ended sanctions in exchange for Tehran shutting down much of its nuclear production capacity.

Pakistan issues order to freeze assets of Masood Azhar, impose travel ban

International News

Pakistan has issued an official order to freeze the assets and impose travel ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar after the United Nations declared him a "global terrorist".

In a notification issued Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, "the Federal Government is pleased to order that the Resolution 2368 (2017) be fully implemented" against Azhar.

The government directed officials to take actions "as appropriate for the implementation of sanctions" against the JeM chief, according to the notification.

Azhar is also banned from selling or purchasing arms and ammunition.

In a major diplomatic win for India, the United Nations designated Pakistan-based Azhar as a "global terrorist" after China lifted its hold on a proposal by the US, the UK and France to blacklist him.
The US, the UK and France had moved the proposal to designate Azhar as a "global terrorist" in the UN Security Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee in February, just days after the deadly Pulwama terror attack carried out by the JeM in Jammu and Kashmir.


 Pakistan foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal on Wednesday said that Pakistan would "immediately enforce the sanctions" imposed on Azhar.

China says 'positive progress' made to resolve issue of Azhar's UN listing

International News
China on Monday claimed that "positive progress" has been made to resolve the issue of designating Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN and accused the US of scuttling its efforts by taking the matter directly to the Security Council.

China last week defended its repeated attempts to block the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Azhar as a global terrorist and refuted the US allegation that Beijing's action amounted to protecting violent Islamic groups from sanctions.

China criticised the US move for directly taking the issue of listing Azhar as global terrorists to UN Security Council after Beijing put a technical hold on the US, UK and French resolution earlier to declare him as a global terrorist in the UN's 1267 committee dealing with counter-terrorism issues.
"After the application for designation of Azhar was proposed (in the 1267 committee), China is in close communication and coordination with various parties and made positive progress. The US knows that very well," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here on Monday.

Asked to clarify whether the progress he meant was to resolve the vexed issue of listing Azhar, Geng said "yes. The US knows that very well". He, however, did not elaborate.China has so far blocked the move four times in recent years.


  It recently blocked the US, UK and France resolution in the counter terrorism 1267 committee with "technical hold" saying that it provides time and space for the relevant parties to hold talks after the Pulwama terrorist attack.Following this, the US directly moved a resolution in the UN Security Council last week to blacklist Azhar which China said amounted to undermining the 1267 Committee...Read More

India, US corner Pak over terrorism, seek 'tangible, irreversible' action

Current Affairs

India and the United States sought "tangible and irreversible action" by Pakistan against terrorist groups and leaders, with the US national security advisor saying Washington stands shoulder-to-shoulder with New Delhi in its fight against terrorism.

The US support to India was expressed by American NSA John Bolton during a meeting with Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Wednesday.

"Met with Indian FS Gokhale to advance progress on the US-India strategic partnership & our shared vision for the Indo-Pacific, as well as reiterate that the US stands shoulder-to-shoulder with India in the fight against terrorism," Bolton said in a tweet.

Post the Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, Bolton and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have emerged as strong supporters of the India-US relationship.

"Both underlined the importance of Pakistan taking tangible and irreversible action against terrorist groups based in territories under its control and denial of safe haven for these groups to launch cross -border attacks," the Indian Embassy said in a readout of the meeting.

However, the US support came on a day China for the fourth time blocked a bid to get Jaish chief Masood Azhar designated a global terrorist by the UN Security Council.


 China put a technical hold on the move by the US, the UK and France, seeking "more time to examine" the proposal, a diplomat at the United Nations has told PTI...Read more