Iran Drops Dollar As Congress Threatens More Sanctions
The clock is ticking on the Iranian nuclear deal, but it may all be for naught. A meddling Congress aside, Iran appears to lack faith in US President Barack Obama’s ability to ease long-standing sanctions and is cutting what ties it can.According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, Iran no longer uses the US dollar in trade with foreign countries. Instead, Iran employs other currencies like the Chinese yuan, euro, Turkish lira, and Russian ruble, explained Deputy Head of the Central Bank of Iran Gholamali Kamyab.
In November, Iran and six world powers – the United States, Great Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia – agreed on a six-month preemptive deal to restrict Iran’s nuclear program. Per the terms of the arrangement – which entered into effect on January 20th – Iran will limit its uranium enrichment to peaceful levels and reduce its stockpile of already enriched uranium. Of course, a long-term agreement has yet to be made, though Obama has pledged a peaceful solution – and more sanctions if Iran fails to cooperate.
For its part, the United States Congress does not plan to extend Iran the benefit of the doubt and prefers the threat of those sanctions now. The bipartisan duo of Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Robert Menendez have authored a bill that would impose several escalating rounds of sanctions on Iran’s economy if they fail to agree to a long-term plan or break the stipulations of the current six-month deal. The bill is likely to hit the Senate floor in late February or early March, but may prove unnecessary if the talks stall sooner – and stall sooner they likely will.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
