• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, January 29, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

US Sanctions Against Iran: the Final Straw in Long List of Grievances

Muhammad Sahimi by Muhammad Sahimi
08/09/18
in Opinion
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani giving a speech in the southern Iranian coastal city of Chabahar

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Photo: AFP

114
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Iran’s list of grievances against the United States is long. It comes as no surprise that Tehran filed a lawsuit against the U.S. three weeks ago, complaining that through Washington’s actions, and in particular the imposition of the economic sanctions after the withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, the country had violated a 63-year-old treaty between the two countries.

With the lawsuit, Iran refers to the Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights that was signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration in August 1955, after the CIA and Britain’s MI6 overthrew Iran’s democratically-elected government of Mohammad Mosaddegh two years prior. The treaty was supposedly meant to mend the relationship between the U.S. and the people of Iran in the aftermath of the coup. It called for close economic relations and cooperation, regulating consular relations, and encouraging more trade.

In Iran’s formal complaint to the UN’s International Court of Justice, the country argues that the U.S. is in breach of its obligations to Iran under six of the articles of the 1955 treaty.

According to the treaty, the U.S. cannot impose economic sanctions against Iran, hinder Iran’s economic relations with other nations, hinder Iran’s economic development through preventing its export of oil or other items, ban Iran’s citizens’ travel to the U.S., or threaten Iran. But that, and more, is exactly what the U.S. has been doing for the past 40 years.

For years, successive administrations have supported various opposition groups against Tehran, which violates the Algiers Accord that ended the Hostage Crisis of 1979-1981. Under this agreement, the U.S. pledged that it will be their policy “not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran’s internal affairs.”

However, the George W. Bush administration devoted $75 million to support Iran’s opposition groups. In a recent speech in Southern California, where a large community of Iranian-Americans lives, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke about supporting the opposition groups. Rudy Giuliani, the president’s attorney, and John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, have both been paid lobbyists for the MEK, the exiled opposition group that collaborated with the regime of Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war. Iran’s grievances do not end with violations of the Algiers Accords and the 1995 treaty. The complete list is long.

For 25 years, the U.S. supported the dictatorship of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The U.S. sided with Saddam Hussein’s regime during its war with Iran. It destroyed two of Iran’s offshore oil platforms in the Persian Gulf in 1987, attacked the Iranian navy in the same year, and shot down Iran’s passenger airliner over the Persian Gulf in July 1988, killing 290 people, including 63 children.

For at least a quarter century the U.S. has prevented large-scale foreign investment in Iran, particularly in its oil and natural gas industries.

Ever since Iran’s 1979 Revolution, the image of Iran and its people that has been presented to the American public has been unreal and completely distorted. Iran’s population of 83 million is young, highly educated with a literacy rate of 85 percent, and very well connected to the rest of the world.

Iranian women walk down a street in the capital Tehran on February 7, 2018.
Iranian women in the capital Tehran. Photo: AFP

While Iranian people want democracy, respect for human rights, economic prosperity, and friendly relations with the rest of the world, they also reject outside intervention in their internal affairs.

The next step is for the international court to convene. Iran will present its case as to why it believes the U.S. is violating the treaty and the U.S. must defend itself. Iran has already had a partial victory when the international court ordered the U.S. not to impose any new sanctions at the end of July.

I believe Iran has an excellent chance of winning. Whether at the end the U.S. will recognize the court’s jurisdiction is an entirely different issue. In the past, on several occasions, when the court sided with countries against the U.S., the U.S. announced that it would not abide by the ruling.

So, next time when you read about Iran, remember what the U.S. has done to that nation for the past 65 years.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
Share114Tweet
Muhammad Sahimi

Muhammad Sahimi

Professor at the University of Southern California

Related Posts

Mahsa Amini protests
World

G7 Nations Denounce ‘Brutal’ Iran Protest Crackdown

by Staff Writer
November 4, 2022
Donald Trump
National

US Supreme Court Freezes Release of Trump Tax Returns

by Staff Writer
November 1, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests
Opinion

Imagining a Free Iran

by Stephen J. Lyons
October 24, 2022
Donald Trump
National

US Capitol Riot Probe Votes to Subpoena Trump to Testify

by Staff Writer
October 13, 2022
Iran protests
Featured

Iran Protesters Defiant Despite Crackdown

by Staff Writer
October 10, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests
Middle East

Iran Protests Flare for 10th Night as Tensions Grow With West

by Staff Writer
September 26, 2022
Next Post
Members of the French security forces near a migrant camp

French Hotels, Restaurants Look to Migrants to Fill 100,000 Jobs

Trump and Putin during a press conference in Helsinki

Russia Vows to Retaliate Against New US Sanctions

Recommended

The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 23, 2020

‘Doomsday Clock’ Moves Closest Ever to Midnight

January 25, 2023
Police work near the scene of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California

California Lunar New Year Mass Shooter Dead, Motive Unclear: Police

January 23, 2023
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Race on To Replace Ardern as New Zealand Prime Minister

January 20, 2023
Pfizer logo and vaccines

Pfizer to Sell More Drugs at Cost to Poor Nations

January 18, 2023
Rescuers inspect the wreckage at the site of a Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal

At Least 67 Killed in Nepal Plane Crash

January 16, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023

Opinion

George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Commuters waiting for buses in Metro Manila. Philippines

Eight Billion and Counting…

November 29, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests

Imagining a Free Iran

October 24, 2022
Vladimir Putin

How 18th Century International Law Clarifies the Situation in Ukraine

September 29, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Falling for Putin

September 15, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post