Empires – The American Empire – The Might of Money etc - evidence - section (vi)

In the last video but one, I gave evidence to back up the claim I made that America was an Empire. The evidence I gave was with regard to America using its Military Might in the world.
In this video, I will consider the tactics of coercion the US uses in the realm of Economics.
Throughout the course of this video, I would encourage you to think in terms of Control.
The use of Military Might etc are rather obvious methods of control. Controlling by financial means are less apparent, more subtle. But for all their subtly, they can be just as powerful, as I hope to demonstrate.
Just to recap, some stealthy means of gaining and maintaining control are –
 by making trade deals with the target nations.
 by the exercise of power in some financial concern, or other.
Let’s turn our attentions to Iran to consider this first point - making trade deals with the target nations. In this instance, though it’s more like NOT making trade deals with the target nations because I’m going to be talking about sanctions.
Sanctions are one of the strongarm tactics the US uses in the realm of Economics.
Sanctions were imposed on Iran as far back 1979. Why? Because a large group of Iranian radical students entered the American Embassy in Tehran and took US citizens in the compound, hostage. This was the reason given for the sanctions, but if we pan out a little, we can see what took place in a wider context. Most notably, the Shah, the US puppet, was toppled by a revolution in January 1979 after several years of struggle. Needless to say this displeased the Americans.
The sanctions were lifted after the hostages were released in 1981. Sanctions were then reimposed on Iran in 1987 due to various, on-going issues prior to that. In 1995, sanctions were expanded to include firms making arms deals with Iran. A third round of sanctions were imposed in 2006 when Iran failed to comply with UN resolution 1696 which concerned Uranium Enrichment. The sanctions were aimed at thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Talks in 2016 resulted in a deal being done and the sanctions were then lifted. In 2018, President Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal and sanctions were then reinstated.
The sanctions, spearheaded by the US, were on oil, gas, petro-chemicals and also included shipping, web-hosting, banking and insurance.
Needless to say the various sanctions, which have been imposed over the years, have hit the Iranian economy hard.
This is how the US treats nation states that it regards as enemies.
Before we go any further, I wish to say one thing. To all those American out there who might be offended by what I have been saying about America, I want to say this. I draw a definite distinction between the American people and the American Administrations. I should say that I’m not anti-American per se. It would be wrong for people to conclude that. I’m against the American Administration’s behaviour in both the past and the present - the policies that they have been pursuing. B