In an ongoing attempt to reverse the effects of the President Obama’s very bad nuclear deal with Iran and force them to curtail their dangerous behavior, the Trump administration announced that it would be ending waivers that allowed several countries to continue to import Iranian crude oil. This is part of an attempt to put “maximum pressure” on Tehran to end their “pursuit of nuclear weapons. Stop testing and proliferating ballistic missiles. Stop sponsoring and committing terrorism. Halt the arbitrary detention of US citizens.”[i] The overall goal is to drive Iran’s oil exports down from about 1.5 million barrels a day – to effectively zero. The simple law of supply and demand argues that the move will drive up oil prices. Foreign Policy reports that the Saudis “are open to increasing production—but this time only after assessing the oil market impacts of the new U.S. sanctions policy, not before.” So expect to face a continued rise in the price of gas.[ii] Of course that will trickle down the line to the cost of food and retail goods.
Now when we look for motivation for the end of the waivers, things get a little complicated. Tehran is operating as a force for evil – both against its own citizens and in the world at large. However, as revealed by General Wesley Clark, the Deep State has had a plan to remake the face of the Middle East – probably since before 911. The ouster of Qaddafi in Libya, the Benghazi fiasco, the take-down of Saddam Hussein, the attempts to topple Syrian President Assad were all part of this plan. General Clark said he was told the plan’s final goal was the toppling of Iran.[iii] This has to be seen in this context as well. There are forces within the government that are dedicated to fulfilling that plan.
The danger of war is very real. Iran has already threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz through which 40% of all the traded oil in the world flows. That would send oil prices sky high. That could lead directly to war with Iran. And that begs the question of who else would get in such a war. China is a big buyer of Iranian crude. Short of war, the Chinese could pull all of their investments out of US Treasury Bills. That could lead to a collapse of the US economy. So if war shut down the global oil trade – that would likely crash the value of the US Dollar, which is backed by oil. By an agreement dating back to the 1970s, the world’s oil trade is conducted in American currency. Without that guaranteed demand for dollars the American buying power would crash. So this move has implications for the entire world order. It could only take one event to strike the match that would lead to a conflagration.
[i] Remarks to the Press, Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State, US Department of State, April 22, 2019
[ii] Keith Johnson & Robbie Gramer, Trump’s Big Iran Oil Gamble, Foreign Policy, April 22, 2019
[iii] Interview: General Wesley Clark with Amy Goodman, Global Warfare: “We’re Going to Take out 7 Countries in 5 Years: Iraq,
Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan & Iran..”, Global Research / Democracy Now, March 2, 2007
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