“I am Yahweh. I do not change. I am why Jacob’s descendants are not destroyed.” (Malachi 3: 6)
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Bloomberg—World’s Top Oil Trader Says No One Will Avoid Iran Sanctions:
The world’s top oil trader said it will be near impossible to avoid U.S. sanctions on Iran, suggesting Donald Trump’s attack on OPEC’s third-largest producer may have a bigger impact on the global crude market than many anticipate.
“For us it’s a real challenge,” Vitol Group Chairman Ian Taylor said on Friday at the St. Petersburg Economic forum, adding there are unanswered questions about Europe’s response, and whether the European Central Bank will “stand up” to Trump’s measures. “I personally think none of us will be able to get around it.”
President Donald Trump said May 8 he was withdrawing the U.S. from an international pact on Iran’s nuclear program and reimposing sanctions that will force other nations to cut purchases. So far, there’s been little clarity about how his actions will impact the oil market because there’s less international support than last time. In particular, it’s been unclear by how much European refineries will cut purchases, if at all.
In the prior sanctions, which ran from 2012 to 2016, a handful of mostly Asian countries carried on purchasing but had to show the U.S. that they were lowering imports to avoid their banks losing access to America’s financial system. European purchasers all withdrew.
Taylor’s comments echo recent remarks by some of the world’s biggest oil companies and traders. Total SA CEO Patrick Pouyanne said nobody can have “any illusions” about European companies being exempt from U.S. sanctions. Bob Dudley, his counterpart at BP Plc, said his company won’t test the waters when it comes to Iran sanctions.
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SnyderTalk Comment:
President Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal because Iranian leaders are bad actors with evil ambitions. Their goals include
- hegemony in the Middle East region,
- global expansion of radical Islam under their leadership,
- increased political influence globally using terrorism as a tool, and
- the destruction of the United States and Israel.
Iran’s goals haven’t changed one iota since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. For 39 years, Iranian leaders have been telling the world that the “Big Satan” (the United States) and the “Little Satan” (Israel) must be destroyed. It would be idiotic to ignore their words, their threats, and their actions.
The Iran nuclear deal didn’t solve any problems. It made things worse, because it opened the door for Iran to continue developing nuclear weapons unabated.
Every move that Iranian leaders make is aimed at achieving their goals. With their proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, their involvement in wars against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and their funding of Hezbollah and Hamas, they are inching toward the day when they can attack Israel and the United States. They envision Israel as the battlefield where the war will be fought.
None of this is news. That’s why the Iran nuclear deal made no sense from the get-go. Thankfully, there was too little support for the deal in the U.S. to win Senate approval and make it a treaty. If the Senate had been involved, things would have been much worse.
Stated simply, the Iran nuclear deal is an agreement between Iran and Barack Obama with U.N. Security Council support for political cover. By withdrawing from the deal, President Trump made clear that he intends to stop Iran in her tracks, and that’s exactly what he will do.
Despite the bluster coming out of Tehran, the sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States will have a dramatic effect. President Trump means business. Iranian leaders need to wake up to reality, or they will get a fight with the U.S. sooner rather than later.
In the future, I expect a war with Iran, and I believe Israel will be the battlefield. Even so, we need to do everything we can do to prevent it from happening.
Iranian leaders are currying favor with Turkey, Russia, and China in hopes of forming a union that can stand up against the U.S. The day is coming when we will be forced to deal with them as a group. I call them the TRIC nations—Turkey, Russia, Iran, and China. They are the Axis of Evil. A war with them will be unlike any war in history.
European leaders like to think of themselves as savvy players with global influence, but they are dupes. They have been victimized by their own evil ambitions and poor judgment. Europe is just beginning to experience the consequences of their leaders’ foolishness.
European leaders with common sense are beginning to wake up, but they tend to be from poorer Eastern European countries. Leaders in richer Western European countries appear to be clueless.
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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)
