After the United States failed to convince other countries to follow its policy of attempting to isolate Iran, it adopted unilateral sanctions, targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and some financial institutions.

Washington made the move after divisions arose in the 5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) as Iran had succeeded in brokering a deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency to clear up the remaining questions about its nuclear activities and Iranian diplomats held constructive talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the Italian prime minister, and the German foreign minister.
Making the announcement at a press conference, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the recurrent measures were intended “to confront the threatening behavior of the Iranians,” and again claimed that Tehran supports terrorism.
The measures were adopted despite the fact that many Western countries have refused to follow Washington’s line.
Anyway, Iranian governmental and financial organizations’ relations with the U.S. have been cut since 1979.
An analysis by the Wall Street Journal states that the fact that many Western companies have chosen to continue their relations with Iran shows that the U.S. sanctions imposed on the country have come against a wall.
The United States’ hostile policy toward the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic’s lawfully established organizations runs contrary to international law, is worthless, and, as in the past, is doomed to failure.
Washington took these steps after its attempt to blame other countries for the Iraq debacle fell flat.
Ironically, the U.S. has become isolated in its endeavor to isolate Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently visited Russia and various other countries to enlist allies for the anti-Iran plot, but that was also a flop.
Speaking to a Jewish group in London a few days ago, Olmert said that at his meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin he learned that “Russia has decided not to supply nuclear fuel to Iran.”
However, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has confirmed that the fuel for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant will be supplied six months before it begins operating under the inspection of the IAEA.
Moreover, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz has revealed that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is considered a critic of Olmert’s policies, said a few months ago in a series of closed discussions that in her opinion, Iranian nuclear weapons do not pose an existential threat to Israel. She also criticized Olmert for making outlandish claims about an Iranian bomb, saying that he is attempting to rally people around him by playing on their most basic fears.
In his historic visit to Tehran earlier this month, Putin emphasized the necessity of peacefully resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
His remarks after the recent EU-Russia summit in Lisbon clearly display the differences between Moscow and those countries that favor sanctions on Iran. He told a news conference that imposing sanctions would exacerbate tension over Iran’s nuclear program, and “running around like a mad man with a blade in one’s hand is not the best way to solve such problems.