If the core purpose of Washington’s sanctions on Iran was to force a regime change in Tehran and cripple its ability to affect geopolitics in the Middle East, none of this has happened. In fact, recent events show Iran behaving as a country that sounds neither deterred by Israel nor under immense pressure, both economic and military, from Washington. In response to Israel’s killing of Ismael Haniyeh in Iran, Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri said that Iran will “make the aggressor Israeli regime pay the price for its aggression in a legitimate and decisive action”.

Recently, on 25^th July 2024, the Washington Post published an article “How four U.S. presidents unleashed economic warfare across the globe”, in which some interesting statistics were noted. Firstly, the US imposes three times as many sanctions as any other country (or group of countries) on earth. Secondly, that around one third of all countries on earth are on the receiving end of some form of US sanctions, and that the effectiveness of such sanctions has been, to say the least, limited, despite being the “go to” option of the US government for inflicting punishment on countries from Iran to Cuba, Russia to Myanmar.

Two South Asian neighbors, Iran and Pakistan, had been planning to construct a gas pipeline between the two sides since the 1990s. The two sides finally decided to construct the pipeline in the 2^nd decade of the century. Since then, the US sanctions on Iran are proving formidable for the completion of this project. Recently, the two sides once again decided to resume and complete this project. However, the United States have once again warned Pakistan of economic sanctions if it resumed the construction of the project.

Malaysia only recognizes sanctions imposed by the United Nations and not by any individual country, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution says…

The Russian president’s visit to North Korea (or DPRK) was characterized by reiterating his country’s commitment to fight US-lead sanctions leveled on his host nation (here). It has become clear that UN sanctions on Pyongyang are driven by Washington’s narrow-minded goals, and Russia is responding appropriately. Russia’s veto of the extension of the mandate of the UN Panel of Experts to monitor compliance and sanctions violations in the DPRK in March 2024 reintroduces balance and prevents Washington’s abuse of the UN…

In the latest news from Bloomberg, Vladimir Putin is finally responding to hundreds of billions being stolen from Russian business people by the corrupt Western elites. Or, as the business bullhorn of Michael Bloomberg headlines…

The security of the state includes many components with energy security playing a special role. The degree of development and security of the energy sector determines to a large extent the economic, social and defense aspects of the state. The availability of a country’s own natural energy resources (in particular, oil and gas) and technologies (green energy production, nuclear energy, processing plants) naturally creates both competitive advantages and a sufficient level of energy security and independence…

Another European visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping has once again highlighted the problem of unprecedented Western pressure on the rest of the world, on the global majority, to destroy its relations with Russia. For the umpteenth time, both the leaders of individual EU countries and the pan-European Union authorities are trying to put pressure on Beijing. And even after the leader of a powerful China…

Turkey remains determined to defend its position on the fate of Palestine and the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip. To Israel, however, the “loud rhetoric” of Recip Erdoğan is not a particular inconvenience. Tel Aviv’s verbal accusations of genocide of the Palestinian people and war crimes in Gaza, the first session of the International Court of Justice against the Jewish state, and the demand to give the Turks an international mandate over an independent Palestine are not helping Ankara at all. What else can Erdoğan do but announce a package of sanctions on Israel? In early April, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that…

The BRICS countries are certainly strengthening their positions on the global stage. And this, both on the geoeconomic and geopolitical levels. Without regard to the opinion of the world minority represented by Western regimes and certain others. Today, these processes are forced to be recognized by a number of analysts in the United States and Japan, while the representatives of Brussels Europe continue to live in the illusions of a bygone era…

Against the backdrop of the secondary sanctions adopted by the United States against countries that violate the embargo regime imposed on Russia, since the beginning of 2024 Turkey has started to take actions that are inconsistent with the course of the strategic partnership (at least in the sphere of trade and economic relations), willingly or unwillingly. In particular, we have witnessed the refusal of Turkish banks to accept payments from Russian legal entities and now from Turkish exporters of goods to the Russian market (except for agricultural products). Finally, some Turkish terminals have been refusing to accept…

For more than two months since the beginning of 2024, the banking system and business in general in Turkey has been under unprecedented pressure from the United States in terms of secondary sanctions for the development of business relations with Russia in circumvention of Washington’s restrictive measures – embargo. Unfortunately, Turkish banks have started to refuse to accept financial payments from Russian companies and Turkish exporters to Russia…