KW: Keen is a hghly respected economist, his opinion is listened to. Elsewhere Max Keiser stated “The blacklisting of Iran from international financial messaging system SWIFT serves as a warning to Washington’s enemies, but will hasten the demise of the dollar, stockbroker-turned broadcaster Max Keiser . SWIFT, a system that facilitates cross-border payments between 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries worldwide cut several Iranian banks, including the country’s central bank, off from its services on Monday. The move came as a result of US pressure and was described by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as “the right decision to protect the integrity of the international financial system.”
Max Keiser told RT that in pushing a hard line on Iran, the US will only force other countries to come up with alternatives, and stockpile gold to lessen their dependence on the almighty US dollar. “The US puzzlingly seems to want to expedite global de-dollarization with its ill-advised weaponization of SWIFT,” Keiser said. “The impact this is having globally is clear. Russia and China are developing an alternative to SWIFT while also buying hundreds of tonnes of Gold as a means to escape the $USD chokehold. This in turn will accelerate global de-dollarization.”
Whatever the long-term implications for the US dollar, Iran now faces a more drastic short-term problem. Without SWIFT access, the country cannot be paid for exports or pay for imports. With an economy reeling from US sanctions – applied in 19 rounds since President Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran deal, in May – Tehran might have to think outside the box to ensure its economic survival.
In pushing the SWIFT financial messaging system to exclude Iran, the US has “gone rogue,” economist Steve Keen told RT.
Source: US has ‘gone rogue’ — Economist tells RT about SWIFT’s Iran cutoff — RT US News