Before the bombing starts.
"Iranians feeling pinch of oil sanctions" by Thomas Erdbrink | New York Times, July 02, 2012
TEHRAN — Bedeviled by government mismanagement of the economy and international sanctions over its nuclear program, Iran is in the grip of spiraling inflation, which threatens to worsen with the imposition Sunday of new international measures aimed at cutting Iran’s oil exports, its main source of income.
Seems strangely familiar to me.
With the local currency, the rial, having lost 50 percent of its value in the last year against other currencies, prices are rising fast — officially 25 percent annually, but even more than that, economists say.
Distorted by inflation, Iran’s economy increasingly centers on speculation. In this evolving casino, the winners seize opportunities to make quick money on currency plays, while the losers watch their wealth and savings evaporate.
Related: State Street Stole From Ohio Pension Fund
Iran's economy is JUST LIKE YOURS, 'murkn!
A European Union embargo on the purchase of Iranian oil went into effect Sunday. It was the second economic setback for Tehran in days, after new US sanctions that prohibit banks from completing oil transactions with Iranian banks.
Iran’s vice president, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, said Sunday that authorities had stockpiled imported goods and are increasing supplies of hard currency to help cushion the blow to the economy.
At first glance Tehran, the political and economical engine of Iran, is the thriving metropolis it has long been. In 2011, Porsche sold more cars here than anywhere else in the Middle East. City parks are immaculately maintained and street lights are rarely broken. Supermarkets and stores brim with imported products, and homeless people are a rare sight on its streets.
Not in Amerika.
But Iran’s diminishing ability to sell oil under sanctions, falling foreign currency reserves, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s erratic economic policies have combined to create an atmosphere in which citizens, banks, businesses, and state institutions have started fending for themselves.
“The fact that all those Porsches are sold here is an indicator that some people are profiting from the bad economy,’’ said Hossein Raghfar, an economist at Al Zahra University here. ‘‘Everybody has started hustling on the side, in order to generate extra income,’’ he said....
Iran's 1%, right?
For those on the losing end, however, every day brings more bad news.
My, my, my, we have so much in common with Iranians, 'murkn. I don't want to kill them for the thieving Jews of Israel.
The steep price rises are turning visits by Tehran homemakers to their neighborhood supermarkets into nerve-racking experiences, with the price of bread, for example, increasing sixteenfold since the lifting of state subsidies in 2010.
My grocery buck buys just a little less each time I go.
“My life feels like I’m trying to swim up a waterfall,’’ said Dariush Namazi, 50, the manager of a bookstore. Having saved for years to buy a small apartment, he has found the value of his savings cut in half by the inflation.
Western sanctions have hurt, economists say, particularly in denying Tehran access to its foreign currency reserves, which it had used to prop up the rial. Yet economists also agree that much of the damage has been self-inflicted, saying that the Ahmadinejad government went on an import spending spree after oil revenues started hitting record levels from 2005 on. With the government buying so many goods from abroad, many domestic producers were forced to lay off workers and close factories. That, in turn, has made Iran more vulnerable to international sanctions, they say.
The only difference is the AmeriKan empire isn't under sanction. Lord help us if we ever were.
“Many fundamentals of the economy of our country have been destroyed over the past years,’’ said Raghfar, the economist. ‘‘And now, slowly but surely, the chickens have come home to roost.’’
That REALLY SOUNDS FAMILIAR, 'eh, 'murkn?
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"US moves reinforcements to deter Iran military" by Eric Schmitt, and Thom Shanker By David E. Sanger | New York Times, July 03, 2012
WASHINGTON — The United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep into Iran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates.
And when Israel tells us to bomb we will.
The deployments are part of a long-planned effort to bolster the US military presence in the gulf region, in part to reassure Israel that in dealing with Iran, as one senior administration official put it last week, ‘‘When the president says there are other options on the table beyond negotiations, he means it.’’
I can not express to you how disgusted and sick I am of my government's endless servility towards that stain.
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‘‘The message to Iran is, ‘Don’t even think about it,’ ’’ one senior Defense Department official said. ‘‘Don’t even think about closing the strait. We’ll clear the mines. Don’t even think about sending your fast boats out to harass our vessels or commercial shipping. We’ll put them on the bottom of the gulf.’’
Like others interviewed, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the diplomatic and military situation.
Since late spring, stealthy F-22 and older F-15C warplanes have moved into two bases in the Persian Gulf to bolster the combat jets already in the region and the carrier strike groups that are on constant tours of the area. Those additional attack aircraft give the US military greater capability against coastal missile batteries that could threaten shipping, as well as the reach to strike other targets deeper inside Iran.
And the Navy, after a quick development program, has moved a converted amphibious transport and docking ship, the Ponce, into the Persian Gulf to serve as the Pentagon’s first floating staging base for military operations or humanitarian assistance.
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"Iran threatens swift retaliation on US bases" Associated Press, July 05, 2012
TEHRAN — Iran declared Wednesday that it can destroy nearby US military bases and strike Israel within minutes of an attack on the Islamic Republic....
The veiled threat came during a military drill that has included the firing of ballistic missiles. The elite Revolutionary Guards, conducting the war games in Iran’s central desert, said the missiles were aimed at mock-ups of foreign military bases.
Related: Obama’s October Surprise: Largest War Games in US-Israeli History
How much is that going to cost US taxpayers?
Israel and the United States have hinted at the possibility of military strikes against Iran if sanctions and diplomacy do not rein in Iran’s nuclear development program....
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Also see: Iran says it wants 'win-win' in nuclear talks
We all do, save those in slavish service to the EUSraeli Empire.
Next Day Update: Iran says it has plan to close Strait of Hormuz
