Obama Folds To Iran (Again), Will Delay New Sanctions After Rouhani Threat

On Thursday, we detailed the Obama administration’s plan to impose fresh sanctions on Iran in connection with the test-firing of Tehran’s next-generation, surface-to-surface ballistic missile the Emad back in October.
While the launch did not technically violate the nuclear accord (on which the ink is barely dry), it did run afoul of a UN Security Council resolution on developing and testing missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. That prompted some US lawmakers to call for new penalties against the country just as international sanctions are set to be lifted.
The new measures reportedly target around a dozen companies and individuals with ties to Tehran’s ballistic missiles program including:
U. A. E.-based Mabrooka Trading and its founder, Hossein Pournaghshband Hong Kong-based Anhui Land Group Five officials from Iran’s Ministry of Defense for Armed Forces Logistics, or MODAFL including Sayyed Javad Musavi, a key figure at a MODAFL subsidiary which has been the subject of Treasury Dept. sanctions in the past Iran immediately responded, calling the sanctions ‘arbitrary and illegal.’ As a reminder, the Iranians vigorously defend their right to pursue what they call ‘defensive’ capabilities. Tehran says its missile program falls into that category.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on 01/01/2016.