Turkey helping Iran beat sanctions

Here's yet another reason why sanctions against Iran are not very effective: A state-owned Indian oil company has announced that it is paying its bills for Iranian oil via a state-owned bank in Turkey (Hat Tip: Joshua I). India's top state-run refiner, Indian Oil Corp Ltd, said on Wednesday it had begun paying its debt to Iran for oil imports and would clear an outstanding of 380 million euros

Iran sanctions working great, economy grows faster than US economy

In Iran, those sanctions that are designed to stop the country's nuclear program are going just great according to the International Monetary Fund. The economy grew at a rate of 3.2% in 2010-11. That's a better rate than the United States.... The International Monetary Fund gave a rosy portrayal of Iran's economy in a report issued Wednesday, saying it grew by 3.2 % in 2011, contradicting its

Israelis to be barred from investing in Siemens?

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz is preparing legislation to impose sanctions on Iran, to declare it an enemy state and to prohibit all economic activity by Israelis with it. You mean, we haven't done this until now? Well, actually this seems to go further.... Steinitz sent a draft regulation prohibiting investment in corporations doing business with Iran to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense

A bribe to prevent Israel from protesting too loudly?

Germany is providing Israel with a sixth Dolphin class submarine, at a discount of 135 million Euros. Why the discount? Here's a report that suggests that the discount is a bribe to convince Israel not to protest too loudly against German trade with Iran. And that it's not the first time it's happened. One theory is that Germany "donated" the first two after it was discovered in Israel that the

Argentina looking to drop AMIA charges in exchange for better trade relations with Iran

This is not the first time that there has been talk in Argentina of dropping the AMIA bombing charges in return for improved trade relations with Iran. But the more it comes up, the more likely it is to happen. Earlier this week, Iran offered to 'cooperate' in the investigation of the AMIA bombing in Argentina in 1994. The problem is that the investigation has been over for five years and we