US sanctions wreaking havoc on many countries: Activist

The US House of Representatives has voted for a 10-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), but to become law, the bill has to be endorsed by the Senate before being signed by the US president. Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said that Iran would respond if the US proceeded to renew ISA which expires at the end of 2016, since it is clearly a violation of the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Press TV has spoken to Richard Becker, member of the ANSWER Coalition, as well as Lawrence J. Korb, US foreign policy and national security analyst, to get their take on this issue.  

Becker believes the use of sanctions by the United States has wreaked havoc on many countries, adding that it has caused an incredible death toll and injury to whole populations.

He also stated the continued use of this “blunt instrument” should really be examined in total.

The activist further opined that the extreme right-wing group which is coming in at the core of power in Washington will not do anything good for the Americans or people of other countries.

“It is impossible to say what exactly they are going to do but what they always do is I think against the interest of the people of the United States and it is really aimed at the domination, continuing the domination of the United States particularly in key strategic regions like the Middle East and it is clear that the key figures who are coming in through the Trump administration are extremely hostile toward Iran,” he said.

Becker further dismissed the idea that Iran should not be able to test ballistic missiles as “ridiculous,” arguing that it has the right to do so when it is surrounded by the US military power in the region. 

“If Iran saw what was happening and what the strategy and what the trajectory of US policy was in the Middle East, you would think any logical leader would want to provide means of self-defense and for that to be treated as something of a crime or an offense to the United States, I think it is just ridiculous,” he stated. 

Elsewhere in his remarks, the activist said the person who has been appointed as the head of the CIA by US President-elect Donald Trump, Rep. Mike Pompeo, is an “ardent advocate” of tearing up the nuclear deal with Iran.

He also asserted that the agreements made by the United States are very often just “thrown away.”

However, the analyst expressed hope that such a thing would not happen with the JCPOA because it would mean “going on the path of war.”

Meanwhile, the other panelist on Press TV’s program, said that the House of Representatives’ bill to extend Iran sanctions is not going to pass this year because US President Barack Obama will veto it.

“Remember, this is a lame duck Congress, a lot of these people do not have to run for office anymore and this is just a way for them to make a statement. The real question is going to be what President-elect Trump will do when he gets into office,” he said. 

He also mentioned the United States is concerned about Iran’s ballistic missile tests which technically are not prohibited by the nuclear agreement.

However, he argued, Trump will finally realize that the nuclear agreement is not just between Iran and the United States, so he is not going to have much impact. 

“What is going to happen is when he [Trump] realizes that what he said cannot happen because even if he were to abrogate it [the nuclear agreement], the other countries won’t, and the United States will end up being a loser if in fact that happens because they will not be able to get any of the business,” he said. 

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the nuclear agreement in July 2015 and started implementing it in January 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

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