While his opponents criticize President Obama for policies that have come up empty in regard to Iran, columnist Mariusz Zawadzki of Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza writes that his administration has been pursuing a policy that is bringing excellent results. In short, the Obama administration has made the world’s multinational corporations an offer they can’t refuse, cutting the Tehran regime off from much of the trade it depends on to endure – particularly gasoline. In fact it has been so successful, that the E.U. is complaining about the way Washington is bullying European firms.
For the Gazeta Wyborcza, Mariusz Zawadzki writes in part:
The Americans are encircling Iran. One by one, they are forcing multinational corporations not to trade with Tehran. The new strategy has already brought better results than U.N. sanctions.
the administration of President Barack Obama, without desisting from attempts to convince Moscow and Beijing of the necessity of new sanctions, has opened another front in the Cold War with Iran. For months, it has been patiently and quietly talking to international corporations. The Americans have a strong argument in hand: during the last decade, companies doing business with Tehran received U.S. government contracts and tax rebates worth a total of $108 billion. Now U.S. officials have explained to them that they must make a choice – either do business with America or do it with Iran. As one might expect, the companies usually choose the former.
A week ago Leonid Fedun, vice president of the Russian oil giant Lukoil, announced, “We’re withdrawing from the project to exploit the oil fields in Anaran, Iran. We can’t continue because of the threat of American sanctions.”
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That same day, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said that, “sanctions against Iran aren’t the best option.” But Lukoil wants to build a huge refinery in the U.S., where it has, along with Conoco Phillips, a chain of 1,600 gas stations.
