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The U.S. Department of Treasury announced sanctions against five Syrian companies and four individuals on allegations of facilitating crude oil shipments and financing to the Assad government, Reuters reports, citing a statement by the department.

One of the targets of the sanctions are businessman Muhammad al-Qatirji and a trucking company he owns, that, the Treasury said, facilitated trade in fuels between the Syrian government and Islamic State, even though the government, with the assistance of Russia, is officially fighting this same Islamic State and most of it has been driven out of territories it occupied in Syria previously.

According to the Treasury statement, Al-Qatirji’s company was also involved in weapons shipments from Iraq to Syria.

Another target of the sanctions is a fuel trade network that spans Syria, the UAE, and Lebanon, securing fuel supplies to the war-torn country. One of the companies participating in this network, Abar Petroleum Service SAL, last year took part in the sale of fuels worth US$430 million to the Syrian government.

Two other companies in the network, “Lebanon-based Nasco Polymers and UAE-based Sonex Investments were designated for facilitating shipments to Syrian ports by serving as consignees and chartering the vessels,” the statement also said.

The Syrian army is currently preparing for an offensive against Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold controlled by groups involving radical Islamists recognized as terrorist groups by the international community.

The offensive once again put Washington at odds with Moscow, since Russian forces began bombing the town ahead of the Syrian offensive despite a warning from President Trump that the offensive could end in tragedy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to Idlib, to where Russian and Syrian forces earlier in the conflict provided passage for militants from other parts of Syria that government forces took control of, as “a pocket of terrorism” and a problem that needs to be solved.

Crashing currency chaos spreads across the Global South

September 2, 2018

Crashing currency chaos spreads across the Global South

Cryptocurrencies show promise as economies stumble under sanctions and other pressures

Iran oil exports will likely drop to just over 2 million barrels a day pushing the rial lower. Photo: iStock

The Iranian rial: crash. The Turkish lira: crash. The Argentine peso: crash. The Brazilian real: crash. There are multiple, complex, parallel vectors at play in this wilderness of crashing currencies. Turkey’s case is heavily influenced by the bubble of easy credit created by European banks.

Argentina’s problem is mostly to do with the neoliberal austerity of President Mauricio Macri’s government admitting it won’t be able to fulfill payment targets agreed with the IMF less than three months ago.

Brazil’s has to do with what the Goddess of the Market considers anathema: a victory by the imprisoned Lula (former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) or his appointed candidate in the presidential election next October.

This is a serious currency crisis affecting key emerging markets. Three of these – Brazil, Argentina and Turkey – are G20 members, and Iran, absent external pressure, would have everything to qualify as a member. Two – Iran and Turkey – are under US sanctions while the other two, at least for the moment, are firmly within Washington’s orbit.

Now, compare it with currencies that are gaining against the US dollar: the Ukrainian hryvnia, the Georgian lari and the Colombian peso. Not exactly G20 heavyweights – and all of them also inside Washington’s influence.

Behold the axis of gold

Independent analysts from Russia and Turkey to Brazil and Iran largely agree that the overwhelming factor in the current currency crisis is a reversing of the US Federal Reserve quantitative easing (QE) policy.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Provocations Have A History Of Escalating Into War

September 1, 2018

Provocations Have A History Of Escalating Into War

The Russian Government and President Putin are coming under pressure not from US sanctions, which are very good for Russia as they force Russia into independence, but from Russian patriots who are tiring of Putin’s non-confrontational responses to Washington’s never-ending insults and military provocations. Russian patriots don’t want war, but they do want their country’s honor defended, and they believe Putin is failing in this job. Some of them are saying that Putin himself is a West-worshipping Atlanticist Integrationist.

This disillusinonment with Putin, together with Putin’s endorsement of raising the retirement age for pensions, a trap set for him by Russia’s neoliberal economists, have hurt Putin’s approval ratings at the precise time that he will again be tested by Washington in Syria.

In many columns I have defended Putin from the charge that he is not sufficiently Russian. Putin wants to avoid war, because he knows it would be nuclear, the consequences of which would be dire. He knows that the US and its militarily impotent NATO allies cannot possibly conduct conventional warfare against Russia or China, much less against both. Putin also undersrtands that the sanctions are damaging Washington’s European vassals and could eventually force the European vassal states into independence that would constrain Washington’s belligerence. Even with Russia’s new super weapons, which probably give Putin the capability of destroying the entirety of the Western World with little or no damage to Russia, Putin sees no point in so much destruction, especially as the consequences are unknown. There could be nuclear winter or other results that would put the planet into decline as a life-sustaining entity.

So, as I have suggested in many columns Putin is acting intelligently. He is in the game for the long term while protecting the world from dangerous war.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Economic Crisis Looms In Iran As Sanctions Bite

August 30, 2018

Economic Crisis Looms In Iran As Sanctions Bite

In a little over two months, painful U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil sector will take effect, but the Iranian economy is already showing signs of strain.

Iran’s currency, the rial, has fallen by more than half since the start of the year. There is now a thriving black market for U.S. dollars as the rial continues to plunge.

The turmoil has the government engaging in a bit of a circling firing squad. In July, the head of the central bank was sacked. In early August, the labor minister was ousted and just this past weekend the economy minister was removed.

The reshuffling and purging of top officials suggests that hardliners in Tehran are gaining ground against the government of President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate by comparison. “Rouhani’s failure to respond to the economic crisis with gut and grit has further isolated him,” Ali Vaez, the director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, told the Wall Street Journal. “Even his erstwhile allies in the parliament are deserting what they believe is a sinking ship.”

But even though the economic indicators look poor, Rouhani’s real failure in the eyes of the hardliners has been political. That is, his government made the mistake of trusting the United States when it agreed to the 2015 nuclear deal. The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the pact earlier this year was proof in Tehran that opening up and negotiating with the U.S. on the nuclear program was a miscalculation. Rouhani has been in trouble since then, and the economic pain related to the re-implementation of U.S. sanctions is merely compounding the problem.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Iran Sanctions, Emerging Markets And The End Of Dollar Dominance

August 30, 2018

Iran Sanctions, Emerging Markets And The End Of Dollar Dominance

trade war cover up for fed and dollar

The trade war is a rather strange and bewildering affair if you do not understand the underlying goal behind it. If you think that the goal is to balance the trade deficit and provide a more amicable deal for U.S. producers on the global market, then you are probably finding yourself either confused, or operating on blind faith that the details will work themselves out.

Case in point, the latest reports that the U.S. trade deficit is now on track to hit 10-year highs, after a 7% increase in June. This is the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen when tariffs were initiated. In fact, I recall much talk in alternative media circles claiming that the mere threat of tariffs would frighten foreign exporters into balancing trade on their own. Obviously this has not been the case.

Rumors of China committing to trade talks or “folding” under the pressure have been repeatedly proven false. Though stock markets seem to enjoy such headlines, tangible positive results are non-existent. While the world is mostly focused on China’s reactions, sanctions against other nations are continuing for reasons that are difficult to comprehend.

Sanctions against Russia have been tightened in the wake of the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the UK, even though we still have yet to see any concrete evidence that Russia had anything to do with the attack.

And, sanctions against Iran have been reintroduced on the accusation that the Iranian government is engaged in secret nuclear weapons development. And again, we still haven’t seen any hard evidence that this is true.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Thank God This Is Happening” Russia Says Time Has Come To Ditch The Dollar

August 25, 2018

“Thank God This Is Happening” Russia Says Time Has Come To Ditch The Dollar

With the US unveiling a new set of sanctions against Russia on Friday, Moscow said it would definitely respond to Washington’s latest sanctions and, in particular, it is accelerating efforts to abandon the American currency in trade transactions, said Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

“The time has come when we need to go from words to actions, and get rid of the dollar as a means of mutual settlements, and look for other alternatives,” he said in an interview with International Affairs magazine, quoted by RT.

“Thank God, this is happening, and we will speed up this work,” Ryabkov said, explaining the move would come in addition to other “retaliatory measures” as a response to a growing list of US sanctions.

Previously, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said that a growing number of countries are interested in replacing the dollar as a medium in global oil trades and other transactions.

“There is a common understanding that we need to move towards the use of national currencies in our settlements. There is a need for this, as well as the wish of the parties,” Novak said.

According to the minister, it concerns both Turkey and Iran, with more countries likely to join the growing dedollarization wave.

“We are considering an option of payment in national currencies with them. This requires certain adjustments in the financial, economic, and banking sectors” to accomplish. Last week, we reported that the Kremlin was interested in trading with Ankara using the Russian ruble and the Turkish lira. India has also vowed to pay for Iranian oil in rupees.

Meanwhile, the world’s second-largest economy and Washington’s trade war nemesis, China, has been taking steps to challenge the greenback’s dominance with the launch of an oil futures contract backed by Chinese currency, the petro-yuan. China and Iran have already agreed to stop using the dollar in global trade as China has ramped up purchases of Iranian oil in defiance of US sanctions.

US Imposes New Russia Sanctions; Will Stay In Place “Until Change In Russian Behavior”

August 24, 2018

US Imposes New Russia Sanctions; Will Stay In Place “Until Change In Russian Behavior”

Having warned several weeks ago it would impose sanctions on Russia for its alleged use of the Novichok chemical agent in the UK, on Friday morning the US followed through with the threat when the U.S. released a notice of sanctions, saying they will take effect when published in Federal Register on Aug. 27.

The sanctions will include foreign assistance, arms sales, denial of U.S. government credit, other financial assistance, and will remain in place for at least one year and until further notice.

Exceptions include on flight safety, wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries, space flight – as Russia is a primary supplier of space engines for US rockets – commercial end-users, deemed exports and reexports.

Plans to impose the sanctions were announced by the Trump administration on Aug. 8 and since the move was fully priced in, despite a small dip in the ruble in kneejerk response, the USDRUB quickly dropped and was trading near session lows amid broad-based weakness in the US dollar.

The lack of a reaction shows that investors are less concerned with limitations that, however, fall short of blocking purchases of Russian sovereign debt.

Separately, speaking to reporters in Kiev, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said the U.S. sanctions against Russia will remain in force “until there is a required change in Russian behavior” adding that the U.S. doesn’t accept Russian meddling in U.S. elections.

Bolton added he had told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that Moscow should not meddle in Ukraine’s presidential vote next year.

On Aug 23, Bolton said he had discussed the recent indictment for 12 Russians with Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s security council, and said that the indictments are “serious” and investigations continue.

Russia Plans To Beat US Sanctions By Stockpiling Gold

August 23, 2018

Russia Plans To Beat US Sanctions By Stockpiling Gold

The Russian government is not taking the United States’ sanctions lightly. Instead, they plan to beat all sanctions imposed by Washington, including any future sanctions, by stockpiling gold.

The Russian central bank’s First Deputy Governor Dmitry Tulin said that Moscow sees the acquisition of gold as a “100-percent guarantee from legal and political risks.” The increases in gold purchases by the Russian government come as the Trump administration plans to impose new sanctions on Moscow.

Russian bullion holdings are now quickly approaching the Soviet peak of 2,800 tons, which were seen in 1941, according to a report by RT. The gold stockpile was valued at $77.4 billion at the end of last month, according to the Russian central bank’s website. At current prices, the reserves are worth around $83.6 billion. Over the last decade, the country’s share of gold in reserves has soared tenfold. Russia has also continued reducing its holdings of US treasuries. It has lowered its holdings of US debt from $96.1 billion in March to just $14.9 billion in May.

The central bank also clarifies that this plan to stockpile gold is indeed a part of the strategy of diversifying the country’s reserves and moving away from the U.S. dollar.Pravda Report writes that in the spring of 2018, Russia cut its investments in the U.S. public debt, getting rid of most of its U.S. Treasury bonds, taking measures to protect the country against the U.S.’s runaway and ballooning debt crisis. Bloomberg believes that Russia used a part of the revenues from divesting to purchase the gold.

According to the World Gold Council, Russia is not only the largest official buyer of gold but also the world’s third-biggest producer. Russia’s central bank has been purchasing a lot of gold from domestic miners through commercial banks.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Is Germany Moving SWIFT-ly To CIPS?

August 23, 2018

Is Germany Moving SWIFT-ly To CIPS?

We have detailed how Russia and China have developed independent global payment systems that run parallel to the dollar based SWIFT system. We recently discussed how sanctions against Russia were actually “crushing the American empire“. The dollar based system is now obsolete and the entire world is questioning why the current system is the only way to conduct global trade. Well, it’s not.

The Federal Reserve Note (FRN), U.S. dollar is under attack in a variety of ways. We have been documenting the astronomical growth of the yuan backed futures oil contract and how this is going to impact the FRN and the American economy. We have also pointed out that Russia has dumped approximately 82% of their entire U.S. treasuries and Turkey recently announced they will be offloading approximately 50% of their treasury holdings.

At the most recent BRICS Summit, held in July, one of biggest take-aways was the fact the BRICS alliance was in talks with Turkey and the possibility of Turkey, which is a NATO “partner”, could join BRICS! This is to say nothing of China, which heads the BRICS alliance, is also in talks with Argentina and Venezuela.

Now we learn that Germany is on board with moving away from SWIFT and the “trade wars”, sanctions against Russia and President Trump forcing NATO “partners” to pay up. President Trump’s actions have pushed Germany away from their alliance with the U.S.. The German / Russian partnership is very important to the overall German economy and Trump’s recent demand that Germany stop doing oil business with Russia seems to have pushed them over the edge. There may be more at play here, but most all geopolitical issues in the 21st century boil down to oil, oil production and how to get the cheapest oil possible.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Sanctions, oil, and the emerging China-Russia-Iran axis

August 18, 2018

Sanctions, oil, and the emerging China-Russia-Iran axis

A reshuffle of crude oil exports to Asia

Asian oil refiners have been rushing to secure crude supplies in anticipation of an escalating trade war between the United States and China. Last week, Dongming Petrochemical, an independent Chinese refiner, said it has halted crude purchases from the U.S. and turned to Iranian imports amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. U.S. crude oil exports to China reached 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) at the beginning of this July, but Beijing has recently threatened a 25 percent duty on imports of U.S. crude as part of its retaliation for Trump’s latest round of tariffs on US$34 billion worth of Chinese goods. In addition, Iran’s foreign minister said on 3 August that China was “pivotal” to salvaging a multilateral nuclear agreement for the Middle Eastern country after the United States pulled out. A reshuffle of crude oil exports to Asia is possible, with China vacuuming up much of the Iranian oil that other nations won’t buy because of the threat of U.S. sanctions.

China, India, Japan and South Korea together account for almost 65 percent of the 2.7 million barrels a day that Iran exported in May. The U.S. has been lobbying these countries and other multinational oil giants to cut crude purchases from Iran to zero by November, the deadline for re-imposition of the secondary sanctions. In view of the current trade disputes with the U.S., China has reacted defiantly to U.S. sanctions banning business ties with the Islamic republic.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

All Sanctions Against Russia Are Based on Lies

August 18, 2018

All Sanctions Against Russia Are Based on Lies

All of the sanctions (economic, diplomatic, and otherwise) against Russia are based on clearly demonstrable intentional falsehoods; and the sanctions which were announced on August 8th are just the latest example of this consistent tragic fact — a fact which will be proven here, with links to the evidence, so that anyone who reads here can easily see that all of these sanctions are founded on lies against Russia.

The latest of these sanctions were announced on Wednesday August 8^th. Reuters headlined “US imposes sanctions on Russia for nerve agent attack in UK” and reported that, “Washington said on Wednesday it would impose fresh sanctions on Russia by the end of August after it determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain.” This was supposedly because “Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March after a liquid form of the Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to his home’s front door. European countries and the United States expelled 100 Russian diplomats after the attack, in the strongest action by President Donald Trump against Russia since he came to office.”

However, despite intense political pressure that the UK Government and ‘news’media had placed upon the UK’s Porton Down intelligence laboratory to assert that the poison had been made in Russia (labs in several countries including the UK have also manufactured it), the Porton Down lab refused to say this. Though the US Government is acting as ifPorton Down’s statement “determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent,” the actual fact is that Porton Down still refuses to say any such thing, at all —

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

US Sanctions Foster Emergence of Multipolar World

August 16, 2018

US Sanctions Foster Emergence of Multipolar World

Russia, Iran, China, and now Turkey are in the same boat, as all have become the target of US sanctions. But none of those nations has bowed under the pressure. Russia had foreseen the developments in advance and took timely measures to protect itself. The Turkish national currency, the lira, is plummeting now that Washington has introduced sanctions as well as tariffs on steel and aluminum, in an attempt to compel Ankara to turn over a detained American pastor. Turkish President Erdogan said it was time for Turkey to seek “new friends,” and Turkey is planning to issue yuan-denominated bonds to diversify its foreign borrowing instruments. On Aug. 11, President Erdogan said Turkey was ready to begin using local currencies in its trade with Russia, China, Iran, Ukraine, and the EU nations of the eurozone.

The recent BRICS summit reaffirmed Ankara’s commitment to the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) that is geared toward de-dollarizing its member states’ economies, and the agreement to quickly launch a Local Currency Bond Fund gives that policy teeth. Turkey has also expressed its desire to join BRICS.

Ankara is gradually moving toward membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). It has been accepted as a dialog partner of that organization. Last year Turkey became a dialog partner with ASEAN. On Aug. 1, the first ASEAN-Turkey Trilateral Ministerial Meeting was held in Singapore, bringing together Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, ASEAN Secretary General Dato Lim Jock Hoi, and Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who is serving as the 2018 ASEAN term chairman. The event took place under the auspices of the 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that attracted foreign ministers and top diplomats from 30 countries.

Ankara is mulling over a free-trade area (FTA) agreement with the Eurasian Union. This cooperation between Ankara and the EAEU has a promising future.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Economic war on Iran is war on Eurasia integration

August 16, 2018

Economic war on Iran is war on Eurasia integration

US sanctions on Iran should be interpreted as a piece in a much larger chessboard

Life carries on in Tehran despite the threat of US sanctions. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Fatemeh Bahrami

Hysteria reigned supreme after the first round of US sanctions were reinstated against Iran over the past week. War scenarios abound, and yet the key aspect of the economic war unleashed by the Trump administration has been overlooked: Iran is a major piece in a much larger chessboard.

The US sanctions offensive, launched after Washington’s unilateral pullout from the Iran nuclear deal, should be interpreted as an advance gambit in the New Great Game at whose center lies China’s New Silk Road – arguably the most important infrastructure project of the 21st century — and overall Eurasia integration.

The Trump administration’s maneuvers are a testament to how China’s New Silk Road, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), threaten the US establishment.

Eurasian integration on the rise

Eurasian integration is on display in Astana, where Russia, Iran and Turkey are deciding the fate of Syria, in coordination with Damascus.

Iran’s strategic depth in post-war Syria simply won’t vanish. The challenge of Syrian reconstruction will be met largely by Bashar al-Assad’s allies: China, Russia and Iran.

Echoing the Ancient Silk Road, Syria will be configured as an important BRI node, key to Eurasia integration.

In parallel, the Russia-China strategic partnership – from the intersection between the BRI and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) to the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the solidifying of BRICS Plus — has immense economic stakes in the stability of Iran.

The complex interconnection of Iran with both Russia (via the EAEU and the International North-South Transportation Corridor) and China (via BRI and oil/gas supplies) is even tighter than in the case of Syria in the past seven years of civil war.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“All Bets Are Off” – Ruble, Lira Crushed By US Sanctions

August 9, 2018

“All Bets Are Off” – Ruble, Lira Crushed By US Sanctions

Emerging Market currencies are down broadly but the biggest losers (for now) are the Turkish Lira (record lows) and Russian Ruble (20-mo lows) as both suffer from US government actions.

The Ruble has broken down to its lowest since Nov 2016 (US election)…

The move comes after the U.S. said it was imposing the new restrictions to punish President Vladimir Putin’s government for the March 4 nerve-agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. As Blomberg reports, the threatened measures spooked investors, driving the ruble to the lowest levels since 2016 and pushing stocks like Aeroflot and VTB, which could be targeted by some of the new restrictions, down as much as 6 percent.

“It is clear that major sanctions actions are looming against Russia now either by the Administration, by Congress or both,” Tim Ash, a senior emerging-market strategist at Bluebay Asset Management LLC in London, said. “All bets are off.”

And The Lira is plumbing new record low depths…

As Bloomberg reports, the grip of bears on Turkish assets tightened as the nation’s souring relationship with the U.S. added to investor concern over authorities’ inability to put a lid on inflation, sending its currency to a fresh record low and driving up bond yields.

The development “raises the odds that the U.S. will double down on their sanctions” and adds to the “domestic challenges that plague lira-denominated assets,” analysts including Michael Every at Rabobank in London wrote in note to clients.

And for now, the great fall of China remains halted with offshore yuan still treading water…

Turkish Banks Scramble to Stave Off Debt Crisis, as Lira Plummets

August 8, 2018

Turkish Banks Scramble to Stave Off Debt Crisis, as Lira Plummets

Too little, too late?

Desperation is rising in Turkey’s banking sector following months of escalating political and financial instability. Benchmark interest rates have been hiked 10 percentage points so far this year to over 17%, making it much more expensive for companies and families to service their debt. But even that hasn’t stopped the Turkish Lira from plunging almost 25% since March.

“Turkey is going through its first currency crisis of the floating era,” explainedDani Rodik, a Turkish economist and professor at Harvard University. “All the previous ones were when the rate was fixed or managed, and hence unfolded much more quickly. This one is stretched over time, and the government prefers to ignore it.”

The latest spark of concern was the U.S. government’s decision at the weekend to declare sanctions against two Turkish cabinet ministers over the detention of an American pastor. The Trump administration said it was also reviewing Turkey’s duty-free access to the U.S. market, which could affect $1.7 billion of Turkish exports. Bloomberg reported that the US has prepared a broader list of Turkish entities and individuals that could be subject to further sanctions.

On Monday the Lira shed 5.5% of its value to a record low of 5.46 against the dollar, before recovering slightly following intervention from the Bank of Turkey. The central bank changed its rules to loosen the upper limit of banks’ reserve requirements in a desperate bid to support the crumbling currency. The bank announced it was reducing the maximum amount of foreign currency lenders can park at the regulator as part of their required reserves.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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