EU’s Shameful Desperation to Appease Mullahs
By
Mohammad Sadat Khansari
In May,
U.S. President announced that the United States was exiting the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as it is
more commonly known. He explained, or rather gave an extensive list of reasons,
why he did not want to remain in the agreement.
He spoke
about the Iranian regime’s corruption, support of terrorism and proxy groups in
the region, its plundering of the nation’s resources, its involvement in
conflicts in the region especially in Syria and Yemen, its complete disregard
of human rights, its extreme suppression of the Iranian people, and so on.
Perhaps the most pertinent reason is that the goal of the deal is not being
met. He explained: “If I allowed this deal to stand, there would soon be a
nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Everyone would want their weapons ready
by the time Iran had theirs.”
Despite
the points listed above, European officials are trying their best to
continue
trade relations with Iran in defiance of the sanctions that the U.S.
administration reapplied. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy Federica Mogherini even urged New Zealand during her
trip
there a few days ago to defy the U.S. sanctions.
Minister
of State for the Middle East and North Africa for the British Foreign Office
Alistair Burt also said that the United Kingdom is also defying the sanctions.
More officials across Europe say they are doing the same.
They talk
about how the EU must “honour its signature” but there is no signature to
honour and the EU was not even involved in the negotiations of the deal. The
negotiating parties had no legal existence and there were no legal mechanisms
to enforce it. The nuclear deal is not a treaty that has been signed by the
members of the EU and nothing has been ratified by the Council of Ministers or
the respective parliaments.
There
several different English and Persian language versions floating around, so how
can such a deal even be enforced when the wording differs?
By
leaving the nuclear deal, U.S. President put an end to sanctions relief.
Nothing more.
The EU is
trying to preserve trade relations with Iran. But for what? Many multinationals
have already pulled out of trade with Iran because the choice comes down to Iran
or the United States. Not many would decide to choose trade with Iran over
trade with one of the biggest powers in the world.
The worst
of this whole situation is that the EU is scrambling to appease the
clerical
regime in Iran but failing to look at the whole picture. Not only is the EU
completely ignoring the crimes and belligerence of the regime, but it is also
putting trade relations before the lives of its own citizens that are being
held hostage in Iran. Why are EU officials not demanding that their citizens
are released with immediate effect?
Have the
EU officials not listened to or understood U.S. Presidents long list of reasons
for leaving the nuclear deal? Or do they just not care? The European Unionclaims to promote human rights worldwide. It should practice what it preaches
sooner rather than later.
Mohammad
Sadat Khansari is a researcher analyst and consultant, specializing in Human
Rights, political and social affairs. He has expertise in Iran, and the Middles
East affairs.
https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-world/25166-eu-s-shameful-desperation-to-appease-mullahs
Comments
Post a Comment