How China Undercuts the U.S. in Iran

Schwartzreport · 3 months ago · 118 views

Rory Jones , Austin Ramzy and Costas Paris,  Hong Kong Report | Senior Reporter | Reporter  -  The Wall Street JournalStephan: As far as I can tell, America's psychopathic president isn't really interested in anything but making himself the Nero or Caligula of the United States. He is focused on leaving his mark on all the governmental buildings, monuments, and parks in Washington, D.C., enriching himself, and modeling himself on Hitler and transitioning the nation from democracy to neo-medieval autocracy. He simply doesn't have the competence to understand geopolitics, and is being outplayed by China, which is making itself the new world leader. Even the more intelligent conservative media like The Wall Street Journal, see this. The White House has entered talks with Iran over a new nuclear deal, relying on a traditional strength: the promise of sanctions relief and access to some of roughly $100 billion in frozen assets. Yet, that leverage is waning. Tehran has blunted the U.S. sanctions campaign in recent years by successfully using China’s financial architecture—built on the yuan—that operates beyond Washington’s reach. The shift was evident in late April when the U.S. escalated its “Economic Fury” campaign against Iran, sanctioning a major Chinese refinery it said bought billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil. The refiner, Hengli Petrochemical, said its supplier had guaranteed the oil wasn’t Iranian. But it also put the U.S. on notice. Future oil purchases, Hengli said, would be settled in yuan instead of U.S. dollars, the energy market’s main currency—making it harder for outsiders to track the flows. It was the latest sign of a troubling new development for Washington. More of the world’s illicit activity to evade sanctions [...]Read the Full Article »