November 27-2015
by Warren L. Nelson
Iranian officials are falling all over one another to pledge a total blockade on any imports of American consumer goods, the latest manifestation in revolutionary purity required by the Supreme Leader.
The ban on American consumer goods was one of the nine requirements laid down last month by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi as part of his approval of the nuclear agreement with the Big Six.
It is the only one of the nine that has gotten much attention inside Iran. At least two of the others are expected to be totally ignored since they would require the nuclear agreement to be renegotiated. One would require that no new sanctions ever be imposed on Iran, although the agreement allows for non-nuclear sanctions to be imposed and also sets up a system whereby sanctions lifted by the agreement can be “snapped back” if Iran violates the agreement. The other Khamenehi demand requires that US sanctions be wiped off the statute books right now and not merely waived or suspended temporarily, while the agreement requires them to be wiped off the statute books only eight years from now.
A ban on imports of US consumer goods was Khamenehi’s ninth and last requirement. It was laid down by Khamenehi as if it were revolutionary writ. But the United States has banned the export of American consumer goods—and almost all other goods—to Iran since 1995. And that US sanction is not being lifted.
Rather than complaining about that sanction remaining in place, Khamenehi demanded that it be enforced from the Iranian end. Some analysts thought this was just ludicrous and silly.
But others saw a serious concern behind the order. Many Iranians have been talking publicly about the large volume of American and European consumer goods that will fill the shelves of Iranian stores as soon as sanctions are lifted. When American goods do not appear in large volume and they learn the agreement did not lift those US sanctions, those people—who are now the most vocal supporters of the agreement—might join hardliners by becoming critics.
All the loud noises now being made about banning American consumer goods thus obscures the fact that all US sanctions are not being lifted.
Government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht even went further than saying American-made consumer imports would be banned. He said the Islamic Republic would only buy technology from the United States. He avoided saying that Washington has long banned and will continue to ban such sales to Iran. The only major restriction on sales to Iran that will change is that airplane sales will now be allowed.
The latest tabulation on US trade with Iran shows the United States has not imported anything from Iran this year through the end of August and has exported only $170.5 million worth of products to Iran. Half of that was agricultural products and more than a quarter was pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
But Iran’s trade figures conflict with the American data. The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) said Iran’s figures for the first half of the Persian year (March 21-September 22) show Iran bought only $37 million worth of American products.
And Iran’s figures show Iranian goods worth $418,000 going to the United States in that time period—$200,000 worth of carpets, $100,000 worth of shrimp, $54,000 in furniture, $20,000 in flowers, $7,000 worth of saffron and $37,000 in other goods. None of those amounts are of any significance—but they are much more than the zero imports the United States recorded.
