Sanctions meant to boost US energy domination: Analyst

US Senate has backed a bill already ratified by the House to impose sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea. To discuss the issue, Press TV has interviewed Sara Flounders, co-director of the International Action Center from New York, and Michael Lane, president of the American Institute for Foreign Policy from Washington.

Flounders said on Thursday night that America is trying to boost its own domination on the world energy market by imposing sanctions on other nations.

The sanctions policy is "US lawlessness once again operating in a way that is really meant to protect and defend its immediate corporate interest in oil,” the commentator said.

She touched on the recent embargo on energy-rich countries, arguing that the US and its allies are attempting to get in the way of any effort to bring oil and gas on line.

This is “an effort to shut down all the resources coming from other countries so that US oil and gas is the only option on the market,” but they could no longer play that game frankly, Flounders noted.

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Flounders said Washington’s attempt to isolate other countries would have backlash on the US itself.

The trend will end up “isolating further US” corporate power, because the time when the Americans could dominate the world by threatening sanctions is over, she warned.

The analyst said the sanction policy is really “dangerous also for the European Union” which explains what Germany and France strongly protested the unilateral move.

She explained that the US has a long history of imposing sanctions on Iran and North Korea, but it has added Russia to its sanction list in recent years.

The American authorities resort to propaganda campaign in order to pave the ground for imposing sanctions on other countries, Flounders said. 

Lane, the other guest on the show, said the sanctions bill is "a bit extreme” but the final legislation might be different.

The new sanctions “could be beneficial to US energy interest”, but the interest is not going to be served over long term.

The European market needs oil and gas supplies and the United States is willing to take the Russian share of energy market in the green continent, Lane argued.

He further pointed to the American intervention in other countries' internal affairs.

The US has sent political operatives to other states to undermine their governments and their way of conduct is “a little bit naive,” he added.

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