Why sanctions against Iran don't work: Exhibit B - Italy
On Sunday, I wrote a post entitled Why sanctions don't work: Exhibit A - Germany, in which I explained how Germany's continuing business interests in Iran prevented it from being an effective member of the sanctions effort against Ahmadinejad's nuclear enrichment program.Germany is not Russia or China. It doesn't raise its hand in the UN Security Council to veto sanctions against Iran. It isn't providing nuclear fuel or anti-aircraft systems to Iran. It is even considered (along with Italy) one of Israel's best friends on the European continent. Its leader, Angela Merkel, is particularly admired by Israelis. And yet, business is business. And despite a sincere American push for sanctions, Germany is doing four billion euros per year of business with Iran, which includes 'dual use' equipment.On Tuesday, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini (pictured) will arrive in Israel, and the government is expected to announce the establishment of a 'strategic dialogue' with that country. The only other countries with which Israel has a strategic dialogue are the US, France and Britain.
But Italy is Iran's largest trading partner in Europe. And on Monday, the day before Frattini's arrival, Italy's Fiat Group announced in Milan that it would start manufacturing its Siena four-door sedan in Iran.
Frattini's visit comes a day after the Fiat Group announced in Milan that it will begin manufacturing its Siena four-door sedan in Iran this fall, more than 3 1/2 years after signing an agreement with the Iranian car manufacturing company PIDF. The launch of the long-delayed project marks Fiat's return to Iran after a 50-year absence.Part of the problem is that Israel's government is not on the ball.
The agreement with the Pars Industrial Development Foundation (PIDF) initially foresees the assembly of 50,000 Siena's a year, with the intention of expanding to 250,000 vehicles a year.
According to the announcement, the vehicles are to be assembled at a plant in Saveh, 130 kilometers southwest of Teheran, using components imported from a Tofas factory in Turkey.
When asked whether this issue would be raised with Frattini, Israeli officials said they didn't know about the deal, and would look into the matter.But what is true of Germany is true of Italy. Italy is not Russia or China. It doesn't raise its hand in the UN Security Council to veto sanctions against Iran. It isn't providing nuclear fuel or anti-aircraft systems to Iran. It is even considered (along with Germany) one of Israel's best friends on the European continent. Its current leader, Silvio Berlusconi, is particularly admired by Israelis. And yet, business is business. And despite a sincere American push for sanctions, Italy is doing more than Germany's four billion euros per year of business with Iran.
It's time to drop the pretense that sanctions work altogether. They don't. If it were any country other than Israel that was being threatened with annihilation, 'sanctions' would have been dropped as a response a long time ago. Israelis and Americans have to realize that - unfortunately - the only way to stop Iran is militarily.
If those last two paragraphs sound familiar, they should. I wrote the exact same thing about Germany two days ago. It's time to wake up and smell the coffee.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:35 AM
2 Comments:
Of course Carl - no country is going to sacrifice several billion dollars worth of business with Iran just to please Israel. Even if no one hated the Jews, it would be going against human nature to ask the world to give up very lucrative deals. That's why the talk of sanctions against Iran is a mirage. And every one knows it.
Even Israel breaks the sanctions by importing millions of $$$ of Iranian fistukim (pistachios). The US has even asked us to stop that and buy US pistachios instead.
Sheesh.
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