By Hedelberto López Blanch * / Special Collaboration for Resumen Latinoamericano.
The convicted US president, Donald Trump, after suffering a humiliating military defeat in the unjustified war he launched on February 28th against Iran, has now announced the “most devastating economic operation in US history” against the Persian nation.
An editorial in The New York Times states that since the beginning of the war, “Trump said that the United States would achieve a total and complete victory and that Iran should accept unconditional surrender. He hinted that there would be regime change; that no uranium enrichment would be permitted; and that the United States, in collaboration with Iran, would unearth and remove all near-weapon-grade nuclear material. He also said that Washington would control the Strait of Hormuz.” None of this seems true.”
Trump, under intense pressure from American public opinion and Congress over the consequences of this aggression, and on the eve of the midterm elections, warned on his Social Network Truth that any country allowing the Islamic Republic to evade sanctions would face severe economic repercussions.
As if he were the emperor of the world, he added, with his characteristic arrogance, that those who “allow their financial institutions, companies, airports, or government entities to provide any kind of assistance to Iran will face enormous economic consequences.”
Among the demands of the self-proclaimed would-be emperor to his Western allies are the immediate elimination of “oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, currency exchange houses, ship registrations, and shell companies.”
Iran immediately denounced Trump’s economic war as a “farce” repeated by various White House officials, destined to fail.
In a message on his Twitter account, Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi reviewed a series of failed pressure tactics employed by Washington against Tehran throughout history.
He recalled that 14 years ago, “the most devastating sanctions in history,” declared during the Barack Obama administration against Iran, “failed.” According to the Iranian Foreign Minister, in 2018 the “maximum pressure” imposed by the Donald Trump administration against Iran also “failed.”
Abbas Araqchi emphasized that his country and government have many avenues to win this new economic war launched by the United States.
Russia and China, Tehran’s two allied powers with which it has numerous trade and financial agreements, quickly rejected Washington’s attempts to portray itself as the arbiter of a world that is no longer unipolar.
China’s Foreign Ministry strongly rejected the measure, stating that cooperation between China and Iran is strictly within the framework of international law and should not be subject to interference or disruption. The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed a similar sentiment.
But these two statements from US officials are also telling.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut called Trump’s new sanctions against Iran “desperate” and asserted that Washington has failed to achieve any of its military objectives.
“D-Day” (the date the operation is set to begin) is a desperate spectacle. Iran is winning the war, and Trump is losing it, while Americans are paying a very, very high price,” Murphy stated, criticizing the new sanctions announced by the administration.
“Let’s remember that none of Trump’s war goals have been achieved. The Iranian system remains intact and stable. Iran still has its missiles, drones, and nuclear program; before the war, Iran did not control the strait, now it does,” the senator pointed out.
For his part, retired General Barry Richard McCaffrey, one of the most decorated U.S. military officers, emphasized that “Trump has lost control of the Middle East and several bases thanks to his disastrous war with Iran. What a DISASTER! In my opinion, the U.S. Armed Forces have permanently lost access to 15 bases in the Gulf. Iran is now poised to control the route to the Gulf States. Washington will have to negotiate new access in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Southern Europe. The implications of this are enormous,” the general declared.
Everything indicates that once again, the ambitions of the frustrated emperor and convicted U.S. president, faced with Iran’s enormous and multifaceted resistance, will end in utter failure.
(*) Hedelberto López Blanch is a renowned Cuban journalist. He writes for the newspaper Juventud Rebelde and the weekly Opciones. He is the author of “Cuban Emigration to the United States,” “Secret Stories of Cuban Doctors in Africa,” and “Miami, Dirty Money,” among others.
[ SOURCE: RESUMEN LATINOAMERICANO Y DEL TERCER MUNDO CUBA / EN RESUMEN ]
IMAGE CREDIT: Cover image: Adán Iglesias Toledo
