The European Union remains delusional over Iran’s commitment to the 2015 nuclear agreement.
Iran has now openly made clear that it views the deal as dead and buried, announcing Sunday that it will ignore restrictions on what level of enrichment it applies to uranium stocks. Iran can now rush towards building a nuclear weapon should it so desire — a big deal.
The EU’s response? More appeasement and excuse-making.
Reuters reports that EU foreign ministers will meet on Friday in an attempt to find ways to keep the deal alive. Presumably, the EU will look to find new ways around U.S. sanctions so as to provide the regime with new capital. EU officials recognize that a significant motivation for Iran’s current brinkmanship is not Qassem Soleimani’s demise, but rather Iran’s economic weakness. Crippled by U.S. sanctions that were reimposed following America’s withdrawal from the 2015 deal, Iran is increasingly unable to placate its restive population and hampered in its efforts to export its sectarian revolution across the Middle East.
The EU remains committed to the idea that only conciliation can alter Iran’s behavior. But this is a delusion. Iran continues to believe that with each new escalation, the EU will somehow run to the rescue and find sanctions relief in its favor.
But that’s another delusion. Previous EU efforts to allow companies and investors to circumvent U.S. sanctions have failed because the U.S. economy is a far more lucrative investment opportunity than Iran could ever be. Faced with the possibility of losing U.S. economic access if they deal with Iran, global multinational companies are forgoing Iran.
Only Iran’s return to the negotiating table can set things right. Iran must return with a willingness to address the issues of ballistic missiles, credible nuclear inspections, and an open-ended timetable for any new agreement. But until the EU recognizes this truth and moves to reintroduce sanctions in its pursuit, Iran will continue to play games. And the world will face the growing specter of an Iranian nuclear weapon.
