By Ri Hak Nam

Rodong Sinmun



The range of US sanctions against the rest of the world is expanding.



Recently, the United States announced that it would impose sanctions on Lebanese legislators and senior figures, threatening to drastically add to the list of sanctions against Iran. It sanctioned the state-owned company of Cuba for trading with Venezuela.



The range of sanctions against Russia and China is also expanding.



According to a spokesperson for the Commerce Department of China, the US recently included five Chinese enterprises in its 'Entity List' of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This year, 47 Chinese businesses or institutions were included here.



Not a few Russian targets were put on the sanctions list. In the US Congress, there are about 20 legislative bills that include provisions of sanctions on the Russia.



The US does not treat even its allies as exception. The typical example is that the US terminated its preferential trade treatment system with Turkey for the latter's cooperation with Russia in the economic and military areas. There will be another punitive measures, the US says, if Turkey does not stop the military cooperation with Russia.



With threat of strong sanctions, the US has pushed European countries not to import Iranian oil.



Reporting on these facts, foreign media described that the US considers sanctions as the omnipotent mallet of luck to accomplish its purpose.



In an interview with a magazine, Sergei Ryabkov, deputy foreign minister of the Russian Federation, said as follows:



"According to our estimation, the US sanctions are being carried out against natural individuals and corporate bodies of about 70 countries. Especially, under the consideration of its special status in the sectors of banking and dollar payment, Washington has a prevalent view that applying sanctions to only sour countries brings a big fruit with a lesser cost. Seemingly, the same applies to other sectors. However, many countries have learned how to deal with it. All countries do not submit to the US instructions blindly. These facts are being ignored."



This is not a groundless claim, analysts concur with each other. According to arguments of analysts, factually in the international stage resistance to US sanctions is getting bigger and such sanctions are not working.



Presidents of Russia and Bolivia said that the US unilateral sanctions would never be tolerated. The government of China strongly urged the US to cancel its pressure and sanctions against Chinese companies, and emphasized the stand to give all efforts in protecting the legitimate interests of Chinese companies.



Other countries, including Cuba and Venezuela, have also said that the US is making use of sanctions in imposing its political will on the governments that it does not like. They point that the US has no rights to take unilateral measures against institutions of any country. They denounce that it is an attack to sovereign states. Turkey is firm to say that it will take a retaliatory measure in case the US throws sanctions on the country.



Iranian minister of foreign affairs said: Removal of the US dollar from external trade is the effective way to stop the impact of US sanctions against Iran; The US is plotting a chaos of foreign exchange markets to hurt Iran's economy; For this reason, Iran and some other countries are trying to prevent economic damage by reducing the degree of their dependence on the US dollar. Iran and Turkey have already pursued 35 percent of bilateral trade with their own currencies, he said. Lebanese parliament speaker said that US sanctions are an attack on his country, calling on the international community to take necessary measures in response to unfair practices.



Presenting Iran as an example, analysts claim that US sanctions have exposed the soles.



A senior researcher at the Brookings Institution said; The US government is trying to make use of sanctions to drive Iran into despair of negotiating table for one-sided concession; But Iran is not succumbing; Since its victorious revolution, Iran has responded to US sanctions and isolation maneuvers and thus become well acquainted with the way how to maintain the operation of the state and society amid sanctions; Despite economic sufferings caused by ever-strengthening sanctions, Iran has not yielded so far.



International Crisis Group president and CEO Robert Malley, who served as White House Coordinator for the Middle East in the Obama administration, stressed that sanctions against Iran 'do not fit with the logic and have no merit as they are incompatible with goals.'



(Rodong Sinmun - July 24, 2019)



* Google AI Translation edited by KAR