A system is in place to protect European
companies doing business in Iran from U.S.
sanctions, even though many remain reluctant
because they fear being shut out of the more
lucrative American market if they do.
One option could be to trigger the dispute
mechanism in the agreement, which would
open a window of up to 30 days to resolve
the problem. Some are even calling on
the Europeans to impose their own
sanctions on Iran.
“Sanctions, sanctions, sanctions. We’re not
going to solve the problem like that,” said
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
“Right now, we should wait for the report from
the IAEA to see where we stand.”
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said he was
“very worried about Iran’s behavior,” after
uranium gas was injected into centrifuges
at Fordo last week to produce low-enriched
uranium to fuel nuclear power plants. Under
the deal, Tehran was not supposed to do this
at the site until 2030.
However, the Europeans are hardly surprised
by Iran’s actions. They believe the writing has
been on the wall ever since Trump withdrew
from the nuclear agreement last year,
claiming that it does not to stop Tehran from
developing missiles or undermining stability
in the Gulf region.
“Sadly, it’s a degradation that was to be
expected,” Asselborn said.