Europeans seek way to work past Iran sanctions

As tough new U.S. sanctions against Iran took effect Monday, European officials remained determined to go their own way, but their progress on an issue that has sharply divided the United States and its closest allies has been halting, at best.

The Europeans consider the 2015 Iran nuclear deal crucial to their national interests and say they intend to keep honoring it. But to date, they have not managed to put in place a mechanism for sidestepping the sanctions without antagonizing the Trump administration.

Their stance has become only more complicated by Denmark’s recent accusation that Iran tried to assassinate an Arab separatist living there. France has made a similar accusation.

In May, when the Trump administration pulled out of the nuclear deal, it said it would reimpose the harsh economic sanctions that had been lifted under the agreement, aiming at Iran’s oil exports and banking sector. President Donald Trump has called the deal “the worst in history,” saying it does nothing to restrain Iran’s non-nuclear aggression, including the killing of dissidents abroad, a large missile program and support for Hezbollah, the Syrian government, the Houthis in Yemen and Shia dissidents all over the region.

European Union members including Britain, France and Germany have said they will continue to abide by the nuclear deal, as have China and Russia. They are trying to keep Iran in compliance, too, by countering the U.S. economic sanctions.

But the Europeans have found it difficult to set up an alternative payment mechanism to sidestep the American-dominated banking system and allow Iran to continue selling its oil and goods.