US sanctions driving Iran closer to BRICS : Analyst
US economic sanctions against Iran are an “old imperialist trick” which will drive Tehran closer to China, Russia and other BRICS countries, a political commentator in Boston says.
“All these sanctions are an economic act of war; they’re an attempt to interfere with the economies of other countries to get them to do what they want,” said Daniel Patrick Welch, an outspoken critic of US foreign policy.
“It’s really hegemonic, it’s unbelievable that the United States can appoint itself judge and jury to tell other countries what to do all the time,” Welch told Press TV during a phone interview on Saturday.
“Sanctions are an old trick and the US is the old dog, it can’t learn any new tricks,” he added.
“I hope that it will have the effect that it seems to be having, which is driving Iran and other countries away from the US orbit and closer to each other, closer to BRICS, closer to China and Russia.”
The BRICS group is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
On Friday, the White House once again reiterated its opposition to the joint efforts made by the Republican-controlled Congress and the Israeli premier to push for more sanctions against Iran.
Hawkish Senators Robert Menendez and Mark Kirk are working on a bipartisan bill that would trigger additional sanctions against Iran if negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 fall apart.
Talks are underway between Iran and the P5+1 group - the US, Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany - to reach a comprehensive agreement over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
A significant segment of the Western power structure, however, “has absolutely no interest” in reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran and are using the peaceful program as an excuse to “punish” Iran, Welch argued.
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the latest developments about the nuclear negotiations during their fifth meeting in recent days.
AHT/HRJ
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