4 ms·

The gold bars are already in the US, as part of the Nixon-Faisal agreements. That should not be a comfort to the Saud kleptocracy, as the Shah of Iran discovere

by fmajid 7y ago

The gold bars are already in the US, as part of the Nixon-Faisal agreements. That should not be a comfort to the Saud kleptocracy, as the Shah of Iran discovered.

jdxcode 7y ago
technically wasn't the ayatollah that had to pay that price? You're talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_frozen_assets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_frozen_assets right?
- fmajid 7y ago
  Yes. He thought he’d be able to live his exile in luxury, but what he thought of as his assets (really belonging to the Iranian people he looted, of course) were frozen by Carter.
  - aspenmayer 7y ago
    Not just Carter, the Supreme Court too. After Congress made a law to specifically make the seizure legal, the bank challenged the constitutionality of changing laws to be interpreted against the bank only when applied to that bank’s seized Iranian linked account. The Court sided with the government 7-2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Markazi_v._Peterson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Markazi_v._Peterson
deleted 7y ago
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lonelappde 7y ago
Does the Saudi kleptocracy have any reason to distrust the US klpetocracy? After 9/11/2001 the US was quite loyal in a difficulty time.
- fmajid 7y ago
  The Saud were still in power. If they lost power, all bets are off. It’s certainly not their sterling moral character that gets them so many free passes today.
- chasd00 7y ago
  Without a stable government in SA the Middle East would be even more chaotic than it is now. I think that's why after 9/11 a priority was made to keep the SA monarchy stable and in power.
  - y-c-o-m-b 7y ago
    If that were true, wouldn't it be counterproductive to destabilize the rest of the region (Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya to name a few) at the same time? I think the stability or instability of the Middle East is a function of how the US leaches resources off of it; in that if destabilizing the region gives U.S. interests more $$$, then so be it, chaos be damned.

by fmajid 7y ago

The gold bars are already in the US, as part of the Nixon-Faisal agreements. That should not be a comfort to the Saud kleptocracy, as the Shah of Iran discovered.

jdxcode 7y ago

technically wasn't the ayatollah that had to pay that price? You're talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_frozen_assets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_frozen_assets right?

fmajid 7y ago
Yes. He thought he’d be able to live his exile in luxury, but what he thought of as his assets (really belonging to the Iranian people he looted, of course) were frozen by Carter.
- aspenmayer 7y ago
  Not just Carter, the Supreme Court too. After Congress made a law to specifically make the seizure legal, the bank challenged the constitutionality of changing laws to be interpreted against the bank only when applied to that bank’s seized Iranian linked account. The Court sided with the government 7-2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Markazi_v._Peterson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Markazi_v._Peterson

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

lonelappde 7y ago

Does the Saudi kleptocracy have any reason to distrust the US klpetocracy? After 9/11/2001 the US was quite loyal in a difficulty time.

fmajid 7y ago
The Saud were still in power. If they lost power, all bets are off. It’s certainly not their sterling moral character that gets them so many free passes today.
chasd00 7y ago
Without a stable government in SA the Middle East would be even more chaotic than it is now. I think that's why after 9/11 a priority was made to keep the SA monarchy stable and in power.
- y-c-o-m-b 7y ago
  If that were true, wouldn't it be counterproductive to destabilize the rest of the region (Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya to name a few) at the same time? I think the stability or instability of the Middle East is a function of how the US leaches resources off of it; in that if destabilizing the region gives U.S. interests more $$$, then so be it, chaos be damned.