Page 56 - BNE_magazine_05_2019

56 Opinion
launching the financial mechanism, said he and his Turkish
counterpart would personally oversee it.
China, meanwhile, reiterated that it opposed unilateral US sanctions. "China-Iran co-operation is open, transparent and in accordance with law. It should be respected," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.
India's government was studying the implications of the US announcement, the PTI news agency cited sources as saying. New Delhi had reportedly hoped to be allowed to continue to reduce its Iranian oil imports gradually.
Prior to the announcement that no extended waivers would be issued, Reuters reported that India hoped that the US would allow its allies to continue to buy some Iranian oil instead of halting purchases altogether from May.
“China-Iran co-operation is open, transparent and in accordance with law. It should be respected”
“They [the US administration] have to take care of their allies, strategic partners. Under sanctions from the beginning, there was talk of a gradual reduction and not going to zero on one stroke,” a source familiar with the situation told the news agency.
“Under [the waivers programme] we hope they will give us relaxation and allow us to buy some Iranian oil,” the source added.
Tehran bides its time
Tehran seems to be biding its time before outlining exactly how it will respond to Washington’s upping of the stakes
in its battle to strangle Iran’s economy to force Middle East policy concessions. It appears to be consulting with countries, including the major member states of the European Union, who like the Iranians are opposed to Trump’s sanctions policy.
However, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted an unnamed Iranian official as saying: “Whether the waivers continue or not, Iran’s oil exports will not be zero under any circumstances unless Iranian authorities decide to stop oil exports... and this is not relevant now.
“We have been monitoring and analysing all possible scenarios and conditions for the advance of our country’s oil exports, and necessary measures have been taken... Iran is not waiting for America’s decision or the lack of it to export its oil.
Tasnim also quoted the source as observing. “We have years of experience in neutralising efforts by enemies to strike blows against our country.”
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Semi-official Iranian news agency Fars quoted General Alireza Tangsiri as saying on April 22: “According to international law, the Strait of Hormuz is a marine passageway and if we are barred from using it, we will shut it down. In case of any threat, we will have not even an iota of doubt to protect and defend the Iranian waters.”
Separately, the commander of the IRGC’s navy said Iran would close the strait if Tehran was barred from using it.
Hardline veteran general now heads Guard
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on April 22 replaced the head of the IRGC with a veteran general widely seen as a hardliner, with the move pointedly coinciding with the US change of stance on oil export waivers and days after the US designated the elite group a foreign terrorist organisa- tion (FTO) in an unprecedented move.
In reporting the change at the top of the Guard, Iranian state TV did not give a reason for the promotion of Brigadier General Hossein Salami, 58, well-known for his hardline comments against Israel and the US.
Salami served as deputy head of the IRGC for nine years and is a veteran of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. He also led the Guards’ air force before becoming the second-in-command, according to AFP.
"The Supreme Leader has appointed Salami as the new commander-in-chief of the Guards, who will replace Mohammad Ali Jafari," state TV said. Jafari had held the post since September 2007.
Tehran retaliated to the FTO designation of the IRGC by naming the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organisation and the US government as a sponsor of terrorism.
On 13 April, Salami was cited by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency as saying that he and the IRGC were proud of the FTO designation.
Salami said in January that Iran's strategy was to wipe "the Zionist regime" off the political map, Iran's state TV reported. "We announce that if Israel takes any action to wage a war against us, it will definitely lead to its own elimination," Salami said after an Israeli attack on Iranian targets in Syria in January, Iranian media reported.
Fars news agency reported that Salami in October advised Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to practice swimming in the Mediterranean because soon you will have no choice, but to flee into the sea."