Tehran accuses Britain, France and Germany of succumbing to 'high school bully'
Thursday 16 January 2020 13:42
Donald Trump threatened the UK with a 25 per cent tariff on its cars unless the British government officially accused Iran of breaking the 2015 nuclear deal, it has been reported.
The secret threat last week, first reported by The Washington Post, which cited unnamed European officials, would have seen the tariff imposed on all European automobile imports to the US unless Britain, France and Germany agreed to the ultimatum.
It came days before the three European Union powers on Tuesday triggered a dispute mechanism under the agreement which does amount to a formal accusation against Tehran of violating its terms. It could lead to the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions, but is being framed by the Europeans as the last chance to save the nuclear deal.
Iran said on Thursday the European countries had succumbed to a “high school bully”.
“Appeasement confirmed. E3 sold out remnants of #JCPOA to avoid new Trump tariffs,” Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter, using the acronym of the 2015 accord's official title
Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the West
Show all 23
“It won’t work my friends. You only whet his appetite. Remember your high school bully?”
The 2015 pact was agreed between Tehran and world powers, offering Iran relief from sanctions if it curbed its nuclear work. Mr Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions, telling Tehran he wanted a more stringent deal on nuclear and other issues.
Iran has responded to the US sanctions by scaling back its compliance with the deal, culminating with an announcement this month that it would reject all limits on production of enriched uranium, although it says it wants to keep the deal in place.
Boris Johnson said a “Trump deal” could replace the existing one, were it to fail, while Paris said broad talks were needed.
Two European diplomats confirmed to the Washinton Post that the US had threatened tariffs but said leaders of the three European states had already decided to trigger the mechanism before that.
A third diplomat said such US tactics only undermined the Europeans, who are trying to apply pressure independently.
“True or not it has the effect of discrediting the Europeans, but then Trump doesn’t really care about that,” the diplomat said. “From the Iranian side, it just proves that only the US matters in this.”
The Europeans have long opposed Mr Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal, but have been threatening for months to trigger the dispute mechanism if Iran did not comply with it.
Effigy of UK ambassador to Iran set on fire in Tehran
The dispute mechanism begins a complex diplomatic process that can end with UN sanctions on Iran “snapping back” into place, although the Europeans say that is not their aim.
In triggering the dispute mechanism, the European countries said they were not backing a US policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, and they still hope to salvage the nuclear deal.
The nuclear dispute lies at the heart of Iran’s long-running standoff with the West that spiralled into open conflict this month when Washington killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad and Tehran responded with missile strikes on US targets in Iraq.
During that period of high alert, Iran shot down a civilian airliner in what it says was a tragic mistake. It has triggered anti-government protests at home.
Enriched uranium can be used to create material for nuclear warheads. Iran denies Western accusations it wants such weapons and says it wants nuclear material for peaceful purposes.
“We are enriching more uranium than before the deal was reached,” president Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech. “Pressure has increased on Iran but we continue to progress.”
US sanctions meanwhile have hammered Iran’s economy. Washington aims to reduce its oil exports to zero.
Additional reporting by Reuters
AND NOT JUST THE UK BUT THE WHOLE EU
United States (US) has threatened to impose 25 per cent of tariffs on all European car exports if the European Union (EU) had continued to support Iran’s nuclear deal, German defence minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, announced yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference in Britain’s London, Kramp-Karrenbauer, said that the US President Donald Trump had “secretly” warned France, Germany and the UK that the US would impose a 25 per cent tariffs on European cars if the European countries did not abandon the Iranian nuclear deal reached in the Austrian capital of Vienna in 2015.
Read: Families want compensation for downed Ukrainian plane
“This expression or threat, as you will, does exist,” she reiterated.
Kramp-Karrenbauer remarks came following a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 plane was shot down last week outside Tehran, leaving all 176 crew and passengers dead.
Relations between Tehran and Washington have strained since the US pulled out last year from the 2015 nuclear deal, which curbed Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions. The tensions were heightened after a recent US drone strike killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, who the White House accused him of plotting an earlier embassy attack in Iraq and planning to carry out attacks on US diplomats and service members in Iraq and the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment