EU to Work With Top Iran Diplomat Despite US Sanctions

The European Union said Thursday it regrets the US decision to impose sanctions against Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and vowed to continue working with him.

The decision Wednesday was the latest blow by US President Donald Trump to the 2015 international deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program, which Brussels has been trying to salvage.

“We regret this decision,” said Carlos Martin Ruiz De Gordejuela, a spokesman for EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini.

“From our side, we will continue to work with Mr Zarif as Iran’s most senior diplomat and in view of the importance of maintaining diplomatic channels,” Martin said.

The US government announced Wednesday it was freezing any of Zarif’s assets that are in the United States or are controlled by US entities, adding it also will curtail his international travel.

Trump last year pulled out of a 2015 deal struck by his predecessor Barack Obama, EU powers, China and Russia aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program.

The EU has been trying to salvage the deal ever since.

Zarif has been at the heart of complex talks with foreign capitals over Iran’s nuclear power industry, which Tehran says is peaceful, but Washington and regional allies including Israel insist is cover for a secret weapons program.

But a senior Trump administration official said that Zarif’s diplomatic image—bolstered by his fluent English, self-effacing humor and background as a US-educated academic—was false.

Photo: IRNA

Pompeo to Visit Brussels as Europe Meets on Iran

By Damon Wake in Brussels

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Brussels on Monday to discuss "pressing matters" including the Iran nuclear deal, as the European signatories to the accord meet for talks on how to prevent its collapse.

The EU reiterated its determination to save the 2015 agreement to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief, as tensions between the US and Iran rack up.

Iran last week announced it was suspending some of its commitments under the agreement, a year after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord and imposed swingeing sanctions on the Islamic republic—putting the deal in grave peril.

Adding a military dimension to the diplomatic tensions, Washington is sending an amphibious assault ship and a Patriot missile battery to the Gulf, having already deployed an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers.

The European Union's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini stressed the need for dialogue as "the only and the best way to address differences and avoid escalation" in the region, as she arrived for a scheduled meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.

"We continue to fully support the nuclear deal with Iran, its full implementation," Mogherini said.

"It has been and continues to be for us a key element of the non-proliferation architecture both globally and in the region."

Alongside the meeting of all 28 foreign ministers, the representatives of Britain, France and Germany—the three European signatories—will meet Mogherini to discuss how to keep the deal going.

"We in Europe agree that this agreement is necessary for our security. No-one wants Iran to come into possession of a nuclear bomb," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said as he arrived.

"That is why we will continue to support the implementation of this agreement."

Few details of Pompeo's agenda in Brussels have been announced, beyond the State Department saying talks would be held with officials from France, the UK and Germany.

Mogherini gave a chilly response to news of Pompeo's visit, which she said was only communicated to Brussels at the last minute.

"We'll be here all day with a busy agenda so we'll see during the day how and if we manage to arrange a meeting," she told reporters.

President Hassan Rouhani issued an ultimatum to the Europeans last week, threatening that Iran would go further if they fail to deliver sanctions relief to counterbalance Trump's renewed assault on the Iranian economy within 60 days.

The European powers rejected that ultimatum.

The US has continued to build pressure on Iran, with Pompeo accusing Tehran of planning "imminent" attacks and bolstering the military presence in the Gulf.

Pompeo's visit to Brussels means he is scrapping a stop expected on Monday in Moscow.

But he will still head to the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday to meet President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a State Department official added just before Pompeo left Washington. 

In recent days, Pompeo has already cancelled trips to Berlin and to Greenland to focus on the Iran issue.

Photo: EEAS

EU Backs Iran Trading System But Warns on Syria, Missiles

The EU warned Tehran over its ballistic missile program and interference in the Syria conflict Monday, while welcoming a new mechanism to trade with Iran while bypassing US sanctions.

In a long-awaited statement on Iran that has been the subject of more than a week of wrangling in Brussels, the EU restated its commitment to saving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and took aim at Washington for abandoning the pact and reimposing sanctions.

The bloc hailed the creation last week by France, Britain and Germany of a system to allow firms to trade with Iran without falling foul of US sanctions as vital to supporting legitimate business and said the "resolve to complete this work is unwavering".

But with numerous European powers growing increasingly concerned about Tehran's missile programme, meddling in several Middle East conflicts and recent attempted attacks on opposition figures living in the EU, the bloc urged Iran to mend its ways.

The statement criticized Iran's "provision of military, financial and political support to non-state actors in countries such as Syria and Lebanon.”

"The (EU) Council has serious concerns regarding Iran's military involvement and continuous presence of Iranian forces in Syria," the statement said.

Iran is a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the statement urged Tehran to use its leverage to get Damascus behind UN-led efforts to end the civil war, which has claimed more than 360,000 lives since it began in 2011.

While defending the nuclear deal—which limited Tehran's atomic ambitions in return for sanctions relief—Europe has sought to keep up pressure with sanctions, most recently listing Iranian intelligence services over plots to assassinate regime opponents on Dutch, Danish and French soil.

Continuing Iranian missile tests have also alarmed the EU—not to mention countries in the Middle East—and Monday's statement called on Tehran to stop such activities.

"Iran continues to undertake efforts to increase the range and precision of its missiles, together with increasing the number of tests and operational launches. These activities deepen mistrust and contribute to regional instability," the statement said.

Brussels hopes the new Iran trading mechanism—registered last week in Paris under the name INSTEX—will keep Tehran in the nuclear deal by preserving some of the economic benefits it received.

Iran gave INSTEX a cautious welcome but US officials have dismissed the idea that the new entity would have any impact on efforts to exert economic pressure on Tehran.

Before INSTEX can go live, Iran has to set up a similar entity of its own so the two sides can clear trading on a barter basis without transferring money. It is not clear how long this will take.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons