by Oui
Thu Jul 5th, 2018 at 07:02:00 PM EST
Europe's national security will be decisive in protective measures in order to keep the JCPOA treaty standing with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Europe will not participate in another regime change initiated by the US in alliance with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. Creation of chaos has been a tough lesson for Europe where Islamophobia and Xenophobia give rise to populist right-wing parties. These undermine the long-time status quo between conservatives, centrists and socialist oriented political parties.
Europe and the US do not have an immigration/migration issue as such but a political attack from extreme right wing political groups supported by big money and corporate power. Destruction of the US Supreme Court and the same in Poland to make room for political appointees to change the cultural balance of a nation.
○ Brussels starts legal process against Polish judicial regime
○ Polish PM Morawiecki to EU: Don't lecture us
More below the fold ...
EU Parliament supports EIB's transaction with Iran
The European Parliament has granted permission to the European Investment Bank (EIB) to do business in Iran as Europeans scramble to devise mechanisms aimed at saving the 2015 nuclear deal without the US and protecting their commercial ties with Tehran in the face of returning American sanctions.
The parliament blocked Wednesday a motion that was seeking to prevent the European Commission, the EU's executive body, from lifting restrictions on the Luxembourg-based EIB, the bloc's not-for-profit long term investment arm, in Iran, presstv.com reported.
The measure, which was proposed by the far-right Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group (EFDD), failed with only 93 votes for, 573 against and 11 abstentions.
"We are granting the EIB the capacity to invest in Iran if suitable projects are found," said Siegfried Muresan, a lawmaker from the center-right European People's Party (EPP).
"The Iran deal is good for Europe's security," he told Reuters, referring to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.
After Washington's withdrawal from the JCPOA in May, the administration of US President Donald Trump pledged "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.
Tehran has conditioned its stay in the deal to a set of practical European strides to make sure Iran's dividends from the deal would not be affected when US bans return.
European leaders try to keep Trump's action from blowing up the Iran nuclear deal.
EU Acts to Block U.S. Sanctions on Iran| Arms Control Association |
The European Union adopted measures to protect European entities doing business with Iran from U.S. sanctions, but Iranian officials have said EU efforts are insufficient to persuade Tehran to remain in compliance with the accord.
The European Commission action on June 6 updating its 1996 blocking regulation to include U.S. sanctions on Iran enters into force Aug. 5, unless more than half of the members of the European Parliament or the EU Foreign Affairs Council object prior to that date. The blocking regulation prohibits EU entities from complying with U.S. extraterritorial sanctions and allows companies to recover damages from such sanctions.
Despite the EU action, a number of companies already announced they are pulling out of the Iranian market, including Maersk Tankers of Denmark, General Electric, Siemens, Lukoil, and Reliance Petroleum.
Although it was expected that multinational companies would exit the Iranian market irrespective of the blocking regulation, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told the European Parliament on June 12 that the focus is on small and medium-sized enterprises that "are less engaged in the U.S. market."
Several companies, including French automaker Renault, said they intend to remain in Iran, while others, such as French oil company Total, said they will seek U.S. sanctions waivers to continue doing business with Iran.
'No alternative' to Iran deal, EU's Mogherini tells US | Times of Israel |
The EU's foreign policy chief said there was "no alternative" to the Iran nuclear deal, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed unprecedented sanctions against Tehran, and issued a raft of fresh demands following Washington's withdrawal from the pact.
"Secretary Pompeo's speech has not demonstrated how walking away from the JCPOA has made or will make the region safer from the threat of nuclear proliferation or how it puts us in a better position to influence Iran's conduct in areas outside the scope of JCPOA," Federica Mogherini said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear deal is formally known.
In his first major foreign policy address since moving to the State Department from the CIA, the longtime Iran hawk and ardent opponent of the 2015 nuclear pact outlined an aggressive series of moves designed to counter Tehran, which he called the world's top sponsor of terror.
"We will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime. The leaders in Tehran will have no doubt about our seriousness," Pompeo said in a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani quickly dismissed the threats, saying the rest of the world no longer accepts Washington making decisions on their behalf.
"Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?" Rouhani said in a statement carried by multiple Iranian news agencies.
"The world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence," he added.
○ Netanyahu at UN: Iran Is More Dangerous Than North Korea (Oct. 2013)
○ IRGC ready to act on Rouhani's warning on US oil bans: Chief commander
