Tag: sanctions

Is Congress Injecting Itself Into The Iran Deal?


TYT Network

Cenk Uygur, host of TYT Network, discusses a deal being moved through the U.S. Senate that might allow Congress to vote to approve or disapprove of the Iran Nuclear Deal that the Obama Administration plans to sign at the end of June, 2015.

The U.S. has already attempted to sabotage the nuclear deal between the U.S. and five other countries on one side, and Iran on the other. Those attempts include inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold a “State of the Union address” about the deal, a letter by 47 Senators to the leadership of Iran, and a trip by Speaker of the House John Boehner to Benjamin Netanyahu on the day the framework of the deal was to be approved (March 31st).

Is this latest bill, designed to inject the Congress into the Iran deal, another attempt at sabotaging it?

(Updated article)

Executive Order On Sanctions Against Hackers: CNN

On Wednesday, President Obama announced an executive order that allows the Treasury Department to impose sanctions against cyber hackers who impose a significant threat to national security, states CNN.

“This Executive Order authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, to impose sanctions on individuals or entities that engage in malicious cyber-enabled activities that create a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States,” the President said In a statement announcing the order.

Last November, there was a cyber attack on Sony Pictures that the FBI pinned on North Korea.

At the time Obama questioned Sony’s decision to pull its movie “The Interview.”

According to The Christian Science Monitor, the new executive order authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, to sanction malicious cyber actors whose actions threaten the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States.

In January the White House imposed sanctions against officials within the North Korean government as part of what Obama called a “proportional response” to the Sony hacking.

Venezuelan President Bans Visas for George W. Bush, Dick Cheney

According to Ring of Fire radio and RT, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also announced in a speech on Saturday that former president George W. Bush and former vice president Richard “Dick” Cheney would not be allowed visas to enter Venezuela.

There will also be new mandatory visa requirements in general for all U.S. nationals travelling to Venezuela.

The new visa requirements were changed on March 3rd, according to TeleSUR.

Along with former president Bush and vice-president Cheney, Maduro also said that Congressional Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), Marco Rubio (FL), and Democrat Robert Menendez (NJ), and former CIA chief George Tenet would be banned from entering Venezuela as well.

Maduro also called them “terrorists,” in an interview with teleSUR Saturday.

In the interview, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez also said that the U.S. Embassy in Caracas will be ordered to reduce its diplomatic staff.

The Venezuelan government says the embassy has over 100 workers.

Rodriguez added that current United States diplomats in Venezuela will have to re-apply for visas.

Maduro said that these new visa bans target those who “violated human rights and bombed villages in Iraq, Syria, and Vietnam,” and that from now on, US diplomats “will be required to seek approval from the Foreign Ministry for meetings they conduct in Venezuela,” according to RT.

For Americans traveling to Venezuela in general, a new tourist visa fee will be implemented at a rate equal to that which “a Venezuelan pays to travel to the US,” Maduro said.

In other news, the United States declared Venezuela a national security threat on Monday and ordered sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials in the worst bilateral diplomatic dispute since socialist President Nicolas Maduro took office in 2013, says Reuters.

U.S. President Barack Obama signed and issued an executive order, which senior administration officials said did not target Venezuela’s energy sector or broader economy.

But the move stokes tensions between Washington and Caracas just as U.S. relations with Cuba, a longtime U.S. foe in Latin America and key ally to Venezuela, are set to be normalized.

More here

(Updated post)

Kalashnikov Concern Rifles Sanctioned, Selling Out

The Obama administration banned imports of rifles from Kalashnikov Concern, including AK-47 assault rifles, as part of sanctions against Russia. The sanctions are due to Russia’s role in the Ukrainian conflict, although many gun enthusiasts/preppers/survivalists believe it is Obama’s secret plot to ban the guns.  Video by Russia Today (RT).