EU to Defy US Sanctions on Iran?
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
The proof of the pudding is in the implementation. The jury on Brussels defying US sanctions on Iran is very much out.
A joint statement by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini together with UK, French and German foreign ministers said “effective financial channels” with Iran remain open despite US reimposition of sanctions, adding:
“This is why the European Union’s updated (1996) Blocking Statute will enter into force on 7 August to protect EU companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions.”
“The remaining parties to the JCPOA have committed to work on, inter alia, the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran's export of oil and gas.”
The updated EU Blocking Statute prohibits European businesses from complying with US sanctions on Iran, letting them recover damages from Trump regime imposed penalties.
A separate European Commission statement said “lifting of nuclear-related sanctions is an essential part of the” JCPOA.
“It aims at having a positive impact not only on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of the Iranian people.”
“We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran, in accordance with EU law and with UN Security Council Resolution 2231” - unanimously affirming the JCPOA, making it binding international law, the EC adding:
"This is why the European Union’s updated Blocking Statute enters into force on 7 August to protect EU companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions.”
Brussels is “committed to work on…the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas.”
Never used before, the EU Blocking Statute will be hard to enforce. All 28 member states must be on board. Various European companies already began winding down economic and financial relations with Iran - fearing Trump regime sanctions and loss of access to the US market.
EU guarantees without enforceable policies backing them are meaningless. Europe most often is subservient to US interests even when harmful to its own.
Odds are long against resisting the Trump regime on Iran. Given enormous US pressure, it’s hard to be positive about salvaging the JCPOA unchanged.
US legislation calls for cutting off companies from American banks and dollar processing transactions for not observing Washington’s sanctions on targeted nations.
Washington wants pro-Western puppet rule replacing Iranian sovereign independence.
That’s what US hostility toward the Islamic Republic is all about, along with complicity with Israel against its main regional rival.
Washington intends regime change by whatever it takes to accomplish its objective, even war if other methods fail.
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