http://news.antiwar.com/2012/04/23/obama-unveils-new-sanctions-on-syria-and-iran/
Obama announced his new sanctions on Syria and Iran, aimed at information technology development, while visiting the Holocaust Museum and declaring “never again” in what passes for a justification for sanctions these days.
By | Associated Press – Mon, Apr 23, 2012
By Luke Pachymuthu | Reuters – 20 hrs ago
http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/2012/04/europe-advances-with-treasury-bill.html
Jim Sinclair and how gold will be used by China and others as they are threatened by exclusion of the SWIFT payment system:
(courtesy Jim Sinclair)
Obama Unveils New Sanctions on Syria and Iran
Cites Holocaust in Sanctions Against Technology Development
by Jason Ditz, April 23, 2012
In the midst of the ceasefire in Syria markedly reducing fighting and the P5+1 talks with Iran showing real progress, the Obama Administration decided now was a good time to show that it does not need a good excuse to impose sanctions.
Obama announced his new sanctions on Syria and Iran, aimed at information technology development, while visiting the Holocaust Museum and declaring “never again” in what passes for a justification for sanctions these days.
Officially, the administration is insisting that the sanctions are targeted at surveillance technology used to violate human rights in the nations. In practice, the technologies for which he was condemning Iran and Syria and the “hired guns” that sell such technology to governments are essentially the same technologies that the Obama Administration is acquiring at a fevered pace.
The Obama Administration has been looking at broad information “sharing” authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and levels of random surveillance that Syria and Iran can only dream of. Rather the sanctions seem more about proving that he’s being “tough” on Syria and Iran, particularly at a time when the diplomatic situation obviously doesn’t call for it.
and....
http://news.yahoo.com/report-iran-unplugs-oil-terminal-internet-103108179.html
Report: Iran unplugs oil terminal from Internet
By | Associated Press – Mon, Apr 23, 2012
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has disconnected its oil ministry and its main crude export terminal from the Internet to avoid being attacked by computer malware, a semiofficial news agency reported on Monday.
Mehr said an export terminal in Kharg Island and other oil facilities came under attack from malware and hackers but continued their work as usual.
Some 80 percent of Iran's daily 2.2 million barrels of crude export goes through the Kharg facility, located off its southern coast.
Iran says that it is involved in a long-running technological war with the United States and Israel. In recent years, Tehran has repeatedly announced it has defused malware in its industrial sector including the highly specialized Stuxnet in 2010, which it said had targeted the country's nuclear facilities.
This round of cyberattack began Sunday, Mehr quoted Hamdollah Mohammadnejad, deputy oil minister in charge of civil defense, as saying. He said the ministry and some provincial officers were taken offline, and a special headquarters was set up to confront the attacks.
Earlier this year, head of Iran's civil defense agency Gholam Reza Jalali said the energy sector of the country has been a main target of cyberattacks over the past two years.
Iran has recently announced a series of cyberdefense measures spearheaded by the Revolutionary Guards — a unit which already runs every key military program in Iran and many industries.
In March, the Guard set up what it claims is a hack-proof communications network for its high-level commanders.
Ultimately, Iran says it wants to set up a completely indigenous Internet that is also aimed at checking a "cultural invasion" by enemies aimed at promoting dissent and undermining the ruling system.
The Stuxnet virus was reported to have disrupted controls of some nuclear centrifuges. Tehran says its scientists neutralized the malware and it only damaged the laptops of some personnel at a nuclear power plant.
Iran is at odds with Israel and the West over its controversial nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies accuse Tehran of wanting to develop weapons technology. Iran denies the claims, saying its program is for peaceful purposes.
Iran has reported other cyberattacks since, including an infection in April 2011 dubbed "Stars" and a spy virus about which little is known but its name, "Doku."
and...
http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-half-iran-tanker-fleet-storing-oil-sea-144920017--finance.html
Exclusive: Half Iran tanker fleet storing oil at sea
By Luke Pachymuthu | Reuters – 20 hrs agoRELATED CONTENT
An oil tanker loads gas in Assaluyeh …
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Iran has been forced to deploy more than half its fleet of supertankers to store oil at anchorage in the Gulf as buyers of its crude cut back because of sanctions, two Iran-based shipping sources said.
The sources, who are familiar with operations at Iran's main export terminal Kharg Island in the north of the Gulf, said 14 of National Iranian Tanker Company's (NITC) fleet of 25 very large crude carriers, each loaded with about 2 million barrels of oil, are now at anchor acting as floating storage.
A further five of Iran's nine Suezmax tankers, with capacity of one million barrels, are also parked offshore with oil aboard.
That means that of Iran's 59-million-barrel fleet of VLCCs and Suezmax sized tankers, 33 million barrels of capacity are being used to store crude at sea in the Gulf, or 56 percent of the fleet.
The shipping data suggests Iran's difficulties in selling its oil are getting more acute. With more than half the NITC fleet at anchorage, Iran's capacity to export oil is severely curtailed.
The Iranian shipping sources said that storage tanks on land at Kharg Island, with capacity of some 23 million barrels, are now full.
"The NITC fleet was deployed to Kharg Island to load cargo to prevent shore tank overflows. This has been going on since March," one of the sources, who is familiar with operations at Kharg Island, said.
"The tankers are fully laden," he said.
Industry estimates for the amount of Iranian oil in floating storage from oil companies and tanker tracking consultancies are much lower, in the range 8-16 million barrels, or 4-8 VLCCs.
However, those estimates are based on satellite data using ship tracking systems like the AIS (Automatic Identification System) that use onboard transponders.
Reuters reported on April 13 that most of the NITC tanker fleet had switched off their transponders to conceal shipping movements. Location data for many of the fleet has not been updated for at least three weeks.
"The ships' transponders have been switched off because they don't want to be detected," one of the Iranian shipping sources said.
"They are lying at anchorage. They do not navigate so they don't need the navigation system to be on."
That so many of Iran's tankers are anchored may explain why much of the fleet felt able to switch off its transponders.
Ships are obliged by international law for safety to have a satellite tracking device on board when travelling at sea. However, a ship's master has the discretion to turn off the device with the permission of the vessel's flag state.
Data made available to Reuters shows that at the end of March, 11 vessels were at anchor holding about 18 million barrels in floating storage. Since then the tally has grown by 8 tankers holding another 15 million barrels for a total of 33 million.
Europe's July 1 oil embargo and U.S. and European financial sanctions prompted by Iran's nuclear program have seen Tehran's oil sales drop to most Western destinations and drawn promises from some Asian buyers that they will cut purchases.
China had been expected to take increased volumes of Iranian crude but that has not happened yet.
China halved its Iranian crude imports in March compared to a year earlier and South Korea cut purchases by 40 percent.
Japan has also made steep cuts.
With half of its own fleet being used as floating storage, Iran would need to hire tankers on the open market or have importers hire their own ships to maintain exports.
But traders said it would seem unlikely Iran would deploy its own tankers for floating storage if it were able to sell the crude instead.
"We are not sure if NITC will be requiring more tankers for storage but commercial tanker arrivals coming into load crude have dropped significantly in the past one month because of sanctions issues," said one of the Iranian shipping sources.
Iran last week conceded that exports had fallen slightly to 2.1 million bpd of crude, from 2.2 million at the end of last year.
Independent estimates are that exports fell to about 1.9 million bpd in March and have fallen further in April.
If it cannot find new buyers for its crude Iran's only option other than floating storage would be to curtail oilfield production.
and....
Jim Sinclair and how gold will be used by China and others as they are threatened by exclusion of the SWIFT payment system:
(courtesy Jim Sinclair)
The implications of China paying for Iranian oil in gold is the
most important event in the modern history of gold
1. It is reasonable to assume that China has been threatened with
total or at least selective exclusion from the SWIFT system if it pays
in any currency for Iranian oil.
2. Gold has been by China's elected as the means of making payment for
massive international purchases free of the SWIFT system.
3. Other Asian and Middle Eastern nations will now see the gold they
hold as money free of Western economic interference.
4. Gold now is not only money free of liability, but also free from
interference regarding settlement by the long arm of Western influence.
5. The SWIFT system is becoming ever more a weapon of Western
international political will.
6. In case of war anywhere it is now demonstrated for all to see that
only gold will buy the materials required. Paper currency are under
the SWIFT system's control in settlement.
7. Far from being a Barbaric Relic gold is now clearly the Money of
State Survival in every sense.8. It is reasonable and possible for the supply of physical gold to
most important event in the modern history of gold
1. It is reasonable to assume that China has been threatened with
total or at least selective exclusion from the SWIFT system if it pays
in any currency for Iranian oil.
2. Gold has been by China's elected as the means of making payment for
massive international purchases free of the SWIFT system.
3. Other Asian and Middle Eastern nations will now see the gold they
hold as money free of Western economic interference.
4. Gold now is not only money free of liability, but also free from
interference regarding settlement by the long arm of Western influence.
5. The SWIFT system is becoming ever more a weapon of Western
international political will.
6. In case of war anywhere it is now demonstrated for all to see that
only gold will buy the materials required. Paper currency are under
the SWIFT system's control in settlement.
7. Far from being a Barbaric Relic gold is now clearly the Money of
State Survival in every sense.8. It is reasonable and possible for the supply of physical gold to
fall far behind the size massive short positions as now common to
algorithm and hedge fund paper short making an effective cover at a
reasonable price as compared to a a certain days close impossible the
following day on an exogenous event.
9. It may not be possible to use TA of any nature to determine a price
of overvaluation for gold. Should the USA decide it wise to take on
China in full out economic war such as isolation from the SWIFT system
is with the physical market totally illiquid consider the price that
might result.
algorithm and hedge fund paper short making an effective cover at a
reasonable price as compared to a a certain days close impossible the
following day on an exogenous event.
9. It may not be possible to use TA of any nature to determine a price
of overvaluation for gold. Should the USA decide it wise to take on
China in full out economic war such as isolation from the SWIFT system
is with the physical market totally illiquid consider the price that
might result.
end
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