US Sanctions: The 'Concern for Protesters' Playbook
📰 THE STORY: The New Arab reports that the US has sanctioned Iran's interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, accusing him of overseeing the alleged violent repression of nationwide protests. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: In 1953, the CIA openly admitted to orchestrating a coup against Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, installing the Shah and
setting the stage for decades of Western interference and hostility. The US then armed Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which gassed Iran in the 1980s, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths. This history is conspicuously absent from 'concern' for Iranian well-being. Double Standard: The media widely frames US sanctions as a targeted response to 'repression' in Iran. Yet, the same outlets barely
question the ongoing, brutal repression of protests in Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, or ignore the estimated 40,000+ Palestinians (including over 15,000 children) killed in Gaza since October 2023 by the US-backed Israeli government, which receives $3.8 billion annually in US military aid. There are no US sanctions for those atrocities. Follow the Money: So-called US 'human rights' sanctions
against Iran often serve as pretexts for broader economic warfare, impacting ordinary citizens and creating civil unrest, which is then cited as further justification for more sanctions. Defense industry lobbying groups and hawkish think tanks, often funded by foreign governments (including those with significant anti-Iran agendas), consistently push for a maximalist approach against Iran,