China Opposes American Sanctions On Iran
Sanctions on Iran
China announced on Wednesday that it opposed the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran, after the American president Barack Obama signed into law measures that would target the Iranian economy. American move that imposes sanctions on transactions with the Iranian central bank comes after the United States, Canada and Britain said in November they would impose sanctions on Iran as means to stop its nuclear program, which the Western countries believe to be designed to developing military nuclear capacities for the Islamist republic.
In November, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report by which it was stressing that Iran was creating computer simulations of nuclear weapons. The report determined back then Israel to threaten with a military intervention in Iran and even to take some steps toward it.
The United States, on whose cooperation in a possible action on Iran Israel depends, said it was not the time for a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In stead, Washington offered to impose a new set of sanctions against the Iranians, and since the United Nations had already imposed four rounds of them, to little effect it would seem, the Obama administration decided to sanction Iran unilaterally.
In its protest on Wednesday, the Chinese government said that they were protesting against placing domestic law above the international one in promoting sanctions against other countries.
Since the Western countries pulled out of Iran, as a result of endless sanctions against it, China signed a series of contracts with the regime in Tehran, for infrastructure projects in mining, water and energy industries. The estimated value of the contracts is of $4 billion.
China said that its deals with Iran do not violate UN Security Council resolutions and therefore should not be affected by the new sanctions imposed by the United States.
The law that was signed by Obama stipulates that the foreign companies working with Iran must choose whether they want to continue doing business with it or with the United States.
Britain closed all financial ties of Iran with its financial institutions last November, causing protests against it in Tehran, while Canada announced it would follow suit.
Iran threatened that imposing sanctions on its economy might determine it to close the Strait of Hormuz through which ten percent of the world oil flows. Such a move would lead to an increase in the oil price, given that the shipment would have to take other routes, very costly, and that the extra cost would be felt in the price of the oil.
Iran tested some long range missiles on Monday in a move intended to show that it meant business when it said that it would close the Strait. Iran also warned a US carrier stationed in the Persian Gulf to stay where it was and not return to the position it had left when the Iranian forces started drilling and firing their long range missiles in the zone.
