Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran'; • Hacker News Board

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#451

Post by coldtea » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:39 AM UTC

chabska wrote: post #221

adastra22 wrote: post #20

OP, some context from the other side might be helpful. Yes, there are fines for American companies if they do business with Iranians. That's how sanctions work as I'm sure you're aware. But the story doesn't stop there. If an American finds out they are transacting with a sanctioned individual, or citizens of a sanctioned country like Iran or North Korea, the stakes go up: $1M USD fine and up to 20 years in federal p…

> Nobody should be expected to take that risk I've seen this sentiment so many times from westerners. You all say this, and yet at the same time you levy economic sanctions on countries like Iran, Cuba, and North Korea, with the justification that by making their citizens lives horrific, you encourage them to rise against their government. Their authoritarian militaristic government that doesn't care for human rights…

>with the justification that by making their citizens lives horrific, you encourage them to rise against their government.

That's the PR justification. The real one is "to hurt the countries and make them do as we say" and "because we can".

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#452

Post by tuveson » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:40 AM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #358

chabska wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nobody should be expected to take that risk I've seen this sentiment so many times from westerners. You all say this, and yet at the same time you levy economic sanctions on countries like Iran, Cuba, and North Korea, with the justification that by making their citizens lives horrific, you encourage them to rise against their government. Their authoritarian militaristic government that doesn't care for human rights…

> I've seen this sentiment so many times from westerners. You all say this, and yet at the same time you levy economic sanctions on countries... "You all" is a weird way of putting it. I don't support my government levying sanctions on these countries, but I have zero power to change it. It's funny, as the gist author points out that he doesn't support the actions of the Islamic Republic, and has no power to change i…

> But even in the US, no one I've ever had the option to vote for (and who had even a remote chance of winning) would ever consider lifting these sanctions. So I am similarly powerless to change this situation.

Not saying Obama’s foreign policy was perfect, but he did do the Iran nuclear deal which lifted some sanctions, and started the process of normalizing relations with Cuba. Like so many other things, these were immediately undone by his successor…

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#453

Post by drstewart » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:42 AM UTC

smcl wrote: post #325

drstewart wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it interesting? I thought the common people aren't responsible for the actions of their government?

From our perspective common people aren't responsible. But from the perspective of the person who wrote the "your decision to arm Russia" on their website it is. So what is interesting is that this person is fully able to assign blame to individual Iranians for their government's actions but, one would imagine, is able to separate themselves from the actions of the US government. I wrote "one would imagine" because t…

Ironic that you're blaming all Americans but then claim no other country has any agency

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#454

Post by sjapkee » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:43 AM UTC

Xelbair wrote: post #345

School-Cotton wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and yet at the same time you levy economic sanctions on countries like Iran, Cuba, and North Korea No, I don't do this. I'm not in charge of the government. Who is "we" ?

'You' elect the government. Even if you didn't vote for ruling parties, majority did. Also it seems to be a common thing in Europe to refer to other's country populace OR government as plural 'You'. From my small sample size of 3, Americans were always confused by this and thought they were personally attacked.

>'You' elect the government. Even if you didn't vote for ruling parties, majority did.

It's funny that people still believe governments let people elect anything. You can vote, you can ignore elections - result will be the same, your opinion doesn't matter

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#455

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:43 AM UTC

victorbjorklund wrote: post #381

lazide wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cite? Russia and Iran seem to not be giving too much of a shit. NK became a nuclear power under sanctions.

Russia have gas shortages right now because their plants keep getting blown up and the needed spare parts are often western.

[deleted]

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#456

Post by Obscurity4340 » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:43 AM UTC

adastra22 wrote: post #20

OP, some context from the other side might be helpful. Yes, there are fines for American companies if they do business with Iranians. That's how sanctions work as I'm sure you're aware. But the story doesn't stop there. If an American finds out they are transacting with a sanctioned individual, or citizens of a sanctioned country like Iran or North Korea, the stakes go up: $1M USD fine and up to 20 years in federal p…

Its kind of weird how every time some executive or company gets exposed as having done some horrible or massively illegal thing, they can never be punished cuz its a business but right here there are direct penalties that apply regardless.

If only they applied something like this to the rest of the corporate world, companies would be far better behaved and polite

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#457

Post by LudwigNagasena » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:45 AM UTC

jwr wrote: post #249

slg wrote: post #64

>Iranian IPs are blocked here, due to your decision to arm Russia with drones so that they can indiscriminately massacre civilians. The "your decision" in that response is really off-putting. I know the law is what it is with sanctions like this. However, it is a failing of basic human empathy to blame other common citizens of a country for the actions of their government while we almost certainly do not endorse all…

[flagged]

Why stop at citizens? Why aren’t all humans responsible? You can’t just sit on the sidelines and say “well I am not responsible for what my fellow humans do”.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#458

Post by mynegation » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:46 AM UTC

lazide wrote: post #331

Seattle3503 wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sanctions diminish a counties capacity to wage war.

Cite? Russia and Iran seem to not be giving too much of a shit. NK became a nuclear power under sanctions.

Main reason being that there are large and powerful countries that do not give a damn about sanctions.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#459

Post by sjapkee » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:46 AM UTC

varjag wrote: post #258

piokoch wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's year 2025. You just open company in Brazil or Argentina and you can purchase whatever you want. Before 1989 communistic countries were overcoming CoCom restrictions in this way. Russia is doing this successfully since 2014. Surely Iran, North Korea are doing the same, this is really a no brainer and today and it is not even hard or costly, as nobody needs to physically travel, money transfers go through Kaiman,…

Germany is not purchasing Russian oil. The only two EU states doing so are Hungary and Slovakia and both have vocally pro-Russian governments.

Sweet summer child

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#460

Post by smcl » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:46 AM UTC

huhtenberg wrote: post #343

bambax wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where you get confused is with the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship.

Pray tell how people in the US can control specifics of its foreign policy.

This is why the democracy-vs-dictatorship point is not one I think is worth arguing. Because while you can technically vote for president, senate, congress who have some say over that on your behalf, you still don't really decide anything.

I think however you'd both be in agreement about the broad thrust of the argument - that this is a slightly daft thing to lay at the feet of your average Iranian, who will already be perfectly aware of what its government gets up to.