The Associated Press reports: China rejected President Barack Obama’s decision to move forward with plans for sanctions on countries buying oil from Iran, saying Saturday that Washington had no right to unilaterally punish other nations.
South Korean officials said they will continue working with the U.S. to reduce oil imports from Iran, as other U.S. allies who depend on Iranian oil worked to find alternative energy supplies.
Obama announced Friday that he is plowing ahead with the potential sanctions, which could affect U.S. allies in Asia and Europe, as part of a deepening campaign to starve Iran of money for its disputed nuclear program. The U.S. and allies believe that Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb; Iran denies that.
China is one of the biggest importers of Iranian oil, and its Foreign Ministry reiterated its opposition to the U.S. moves.
This sanctions business is absurd, since it’s not at all clear what “behavior” Obama wants the Iranians to stop. Since his “red line” is the bomb itself, doesn’t he have to have proof that they’re making one? In the absence of such proof, it seems to me that China is well within its rights to ignore the sanctions–as are all of Iran’s oil customers. This is yet another instance of an empire in decline throwing its weight around an arena where it no longer has sufficient influence to do so.
If Obama wants Iran to stop exercising its right within the NPT to enrich uranium, then maybe he should propose an amendment to the NPT. Or would that be too inconvenient for all of Washington’s friends who already have breakout capacity?
the USA is one of the biggest ashmoles in the whole wide whirled; the phat sandbox bully who throws mud in everyone’s eyes to hide and disguise it’s own moral feeble-ness…