The Trump administration designated the head of Iran’s central bank a terrorist Tuesday, slapping on sanctions intended to further isolate Iran from the global financial system.The Treasury Department named Valiollah Seif a “specially designated global terrorist” who is being accused of helping transfer millions of dollars to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Seif is the governor of the Iranian central bank.The U.S. also said it is imposing so-called secondary sanctions on Seif, meaning anyone who does business with him could be cut off from the U.S. financial system.
US starts turning the heat up on EU over Iran deal — Lavrov
MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. European countries have come under the gun from Washington over the Iranian nuclear deal, Russia’s Acting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Tuesday.
I've embedded a John Bolton interview further down. Clearly the US will apply maximum pressure to the EU. And the cards are stacked against the EU. I'm imploring readers to listen to the Bolton interview as he speaks about Iran/Israel and more.
"All other parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for Iran’s nuclear program have reaffirmed their commitment to obligations so far," he said when asked if the United States could exert pressure on other participants in the deal. "Iran’s representatives also reaffirmed that, particularly during yesterday’s visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. China and three European countries - France, Great Britain and Germany - have also said they remain committed to the agreement," Lavrov added.The US forfeited all its rights under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program by exiting from this agreement, Lavrov explained.
"By withdrawing from the JCPOA, the United States lost all its rights under this document, as there are a number of provisions in it that confers its participants with certain rights. The US - and it seems not to be denying this fact - already forfeited all these rights," he said.
Lavrov stressed that Moscow could see pressure being exerted on them. "Ultimatums have been issued citing the need to stop trade with Iran, including the exports of certain goods and the imports of Iranian oil, the deadlines of 60 and 90 days have been set. This is some sort of plan to exert powerful pressure," the Russian top diplomat pointed out.
"However, our European counterparts tell us they are getting ready to become independent from the US in relation to their trade and economic ties with Iran," the Russian top diplomat went on to say. "We are interested in discussing the issue with all countries remaining within the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program," he noted."We will see how resilient the Europeans will be this time, for in the past there were times when they eventually gave in to Washington, damaging their own legitimate interests," Lavrov added.
Expect the European nations to cave. All they’ve done since WW2 is cut off their noses to spite their own stupid faces- I’ve mentioned that on a number of occasions over the many years of blogging here. I realize that the EU has certain agreements with the US. That said, why not just break these agreements? All together? The US breaches it's agreements all the time. As does Israel. The first ten minutes of this interview relate to Iran/EU/Sanctions. Can Europe save the deal?
Whether any or all of these would be enough to counteract the chilling effect of the 8 May announcement on trade with Iran is questionable.
Europe's options limited on threat of Iran sanctions
The EU faces a tough call on whether to hit back against a US squeeze on European companies' dealings with Iran — but history offers the bloc only small comfort that it can prevail.John Bolton, national security adviser of President Donald Trump, warned at the weekend that European companies could be hit by US sanctions if they defy Washington's call to sever commercial links with Tehran.
