US- EU tensions soar over Iran ROUHANI SAYS U. S. WILL EVENTUALLY REJOIN N- DEAL
■ EU legal framework to preserve biz
New York, Sept. 26: Tensions between the United States and the European Union over Iran soared into the open on Tuesday after the Europeans announced plans for a legal framework to preserve business with Tehran and evade new US sanctions.
In rhetorical exchanges that brought back memories of the feud over the 2003 Iraq invasion, the US denounced the Europeans, who, in turn, made clear they would not back down on diplomacy. Britain, France and Germany — along with Russia and China — had all pleaded unsuccessfully for President Donald Trump to remain in the six countries' 2015 accord with Iran on ending its nuclear programme.
Full US sanctions are set to hit Iran in November and the country's economy is already taking a beating.
After talks on Monday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the Europeans would set up a “legal entity” for businesses to transfer money without coming under Washington's scanner.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, addressing a pressure group on the sidelines of annual UN meetings, said he was “disturbed and indeed deeply disappointed” by the EU announcement.
“This is one of the of the most counterproductive measures imaginable for regional and global peace and security,” Pompeo said in a speech that was interrupted several times by anti- war protesters.
“By sustaining revenues to the regime, you are solidifying Iran's ranking as the numberone state sponsor of terror,” said Pompeo, who quipped that Iran's “corrupt ayatollahs” and elite Revolutionary Guards had to be “laughing this morning”. John Bolton, Trump's hawkish national security adviser, mocked the EU for its lack of detail on the planned mechanism.
“The European Union is strong on rhetoric and weak on follow- through,” he told the United Against a Nuclear Iran campaign. “We do not intend to allow our sanctions to be evaded by Europe or anybody else,” he said. – AFP New York, Sept. 26: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani predicted on Wednesday that the United States would eventually rejoin an international nuclear deal, saying talks this week at the United Nations showed his counterpart Donald Trump's isolation. “The United States of America one day, sooner or later, will come back. This cannot be continued," Mr Rouhani told a news conference. “We are not isolated; America is isolated," he said.
Mr Rouhani pointed to a session of the Security Council chaired by Trump earlier Wednesday, where the leaders of Britain and France backed the nuclear deal, as well as a statement by European powers who say they will find ways to continue business with Iran and evade impending sanctions. “We do hope with all the law- abiding and multilateral- oriented countries that we can ultimately put this behind us in an easier fashion than it was earlier anticipated," he said.