Unfortunately, despite all the promising overtures from the new Iranian regime, the US House of Representatives decided to pass a bill that forces even tougher new sanctions against Iran. The intent of the bill, which passed by a vote of 400-20, intends to stop all Iranian oil exports to any country in the world by threatening to blacklist any banks that finance Iranian oil exports. Not only does the bill threaten to undermine US relations with countries that depend on Iranian oil, its assumption that US law can intrude on the conduct of any country in the world is breathtaking. Regardless of whether one believes that such measures are indeed necessary, the timing of the bill is dreadful. Iran has extended several subtle olive branches to the US and it would have worthwhile to first test the sincerity of those measures before such draconian measures were imposed. We’ll see if the US Senate passes the bill as well, and whether President Obama signs it if it does.
Parts of China are experiencing the worst heat wave in 140 years. Temperatures in southwest China around Shanghai have broken 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the heat wave is projected to continue until at least mid-August.
Pro-Morsi protests in Egypt are continuing despite the interim government’s demand that the protests cease. It is clear that Morsi’s supporters intend to challenge the interim government and the potential for further bloodshed is quite high if the military decides to enforce the protest ban. The confrontation will further complicate efforts to bring about some sort of reconciliation in Egypt.
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