On Monday night, the European Union threatened businesses that joined President Trump and the United States by honoring Trump’s perspective by refusing to do business with Iran. Monday night at midnight, the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran that had been lifted by the Iran nuclear deal.
Nathalie Tocci, an aide to E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, told Britain’s BBC Radio 4, “If E.U. companies abide by U.S. secondary sanctions they will, in turn, be sanctioned by the E.U.,” hilariously stating that the sanctions imposed by the E.U. would be an attempt to “protect European companies.” The sanctions would ban companies from pulling out of doing business with Iran without E.U. permission.
Tocci said the E.U. sanctions were “necessary in order to signal, diplomatically, to the Iranians that Europeans are serious” about defying Trump and saving the Iran nuclear deal, as NBC News reported.
On Tuesday, the same day that German car manufacturing giant Daimler announced it would suspend its activities in Iran, Mogherini, who has been desperate to appease the despotic leadership of Iran, told reporters that the E.U. was doing its “best to keep Iran in the deal, to keep Iran benefiting from the economic benefits that the agreement brings to the people of Iran.”
When the Iranian government brutally repressed protests at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, Mogherini was conspicuously silent; when she finally did comment, it was a mealy-mouthed statement: “In the spirit of openness and respect that is at the root of our relationship, we expect all concerned to refrain from violence and to guarantee freedom of expression.”
That tolerance of repressive governments wasn’t new for Mogherini; just before her statement on Iran, when she visited Cuba, she accused the United States of “trying to isolate Cuba,” while she cooed to the Castro government “we Europeans” are ” closer to you than ever.”
On May 8, Trump had announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), which he described as “decaying and rotten.” Only a few days later, Mogherini insisted, “We are determined to keep this deal in place.”
Prior to Trump’s announcement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had visited the White House to convince Trump to abandon his position.
Of course, the E.U. is less concerned about Iran sponsoring terrorism around the globe than it is about the money that Europe can make, despite the fact that Iranian terrorism is ongoing, as evidenced most recently by the mid-July attack planned on Iranian dissidents in a Paris suburb that was foiled by the Israeli Mossad. The Mossad gave Germany, France and Belgium information about the attack; that led to arrests of a cell headed by an Iranian diplomat.
As NBC News noted, “In 2016, the European Union exported more than 8.2 billion euros ($9.7 billion) worth of goods to Iran, while importing almost 5.5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) from there, according to the European Commission.”
Trump’s hardline stance vis-à-vis Iran has contributed to the plunge of the rial, which has lost two-thirds of its value in six months.