EU scrambles to keep Iran deal alive Iran oil buyers face Nov 4 deadline for US curbs to kick in

STICKING TO COMMITMENTS European leaders say will do everything to ensure Iran stays in the accord

US President Donald Trump didn’t kill the Iran nuclear deal. He just shrank its membership by one.

That was the line taken by the European Union after Trump announced his withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday vowed that Germany, France and Britain will “do everything” to ensure that Iran remains in the nuclear deal.

“We will remain committed to this agreement and will do everything to ensure that Iran complies with the deal,” Merkel said, adding that Berlin had made the decision jointly with Paris and London.

Britain called on the US to spell out its vision of a new negotiated settlement with Iran.

“Now that the Trump administration has left the JCPOA, the responsibility falls on them to describe how they in Washington will build a new negotiated solution to our shared concerns,” foreign secretary Boris Johnson told Parliament.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he wants to see them deliver.

But it’s not clear whether the EU, China and Russia will be able to ensure Iran receives the promised economic benefits — including free access to international oil markets and accelerating flows of trade and investment — that persuaded Tehran to sign up to an agreement capping its nuclear programme. The exit throws billions of dollars of European investments that had been planned into disarray.

“The international reach of US sanctions makes the US the economic policeman of the planet, and that is not acceptable,” French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said.

He branded Trump’s decision a “major mistake” and said he’ll lobby US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin this week to grant exemptions for European firms.

The EU’s foreign-policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the bloc will protect its economic investments in Iran.

Russia said late on Tuesday it was “deeply disappointed” by the US decision to pull out of the deal, and ready to work with other parties to keep it alive. China urged all parties involved to continue efforts to implement the agreement.

New Delhi too expressed its disappointment over Trump’s decision — Iran is one of India’s top oil suppliers.

An official statement released by the external affairs ministry stated: “India has always maintained that the Iranian nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully through dialogue and diplomacy by respecting Iran’s right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy as also the international community’s strong interest in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program. All parties should engage constructively to address and resolve issues that have arises with respect to the JCPOA.”

US sanctions related to Iran’s oil exports will kick in on November 4 at the end of a “wind down period”, after which large buyers such as India might come under American pressure to begin weaning themselves off Iranian oil.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump, while announcing the decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal, said he will order “reinstating US nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction”.

India is the third largest buyer of Iran’s oil. When the sanctions — secondary sanctions applicable to foreign companies and entities — are fully in place, the US will expect India to go off Iranian oil at the threat of punitive actions that remain undefined yet, but could include being shut out of US banking system.

“We have experienced this before, but though we are wiser from the last experience we are really on uncertain ground here,” an Indian official said on condition of anonymity, referring to United Nations sanctions reinforced by then US president Barack Obama and EU curbs that were lifted after the 2015 deal.

Most observers had expected Trump to order to reinstate a sanction on Iran’s central bank, which was under a waiver related to the nuclear deal.

“Not the full menu,” said a Western diplomat, admitting to have been taken aback. HTC

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