Abstract
The importance of the transatlantic relationship and the seriousness of the Iranian threat demand that Europe and the US try their utmost to resolve their disagreement over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—also known as the ‘Iran nuclear deal’ or simply the ‘Iran deal’. For the EU this means reviewing the legal and political context of Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal and acknowledging the agreement’s shortcomings. European leaders themselves have identified Iran’s aggression as a major security threat and have also confirmed that the deal is not ‘sufficient’. This being the case, the article argues that, to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions and regional aggression, the EU ought to cooperate with the US even after the latter’s withdrawal from the deal.
Highlights
US President Donald Trump’s 8 May decision to withdraw from the so-called Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has led to serious transatlantic tensions
The US policy change on the nuclear deal collided with the stated EU consensus that the JCPOA is the best way to prevent a nuclear Iran, but that the deal is a Corresponding author: D
The threat of American secondary sanctions, which could cut off non-American companies from the US market and financial system for doing business in Iran (Moehr 2018), is forcing European companies to choose between the $19.4-trillion US economy and the $440-billion Iranian economy (World Bank 2018), one that is compromised by corruption, terror financing and close entanglements with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Summary
US President Donald Trump’s 8 May decision to withdraw from the so-called Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has led to serious transatlantic tensions. The threat of American secondary sanctions, which could cut off non-American companies from the US market and financial system for doing business in Iran (Moehr 2018), is forcing European companies to choose between the $19.4-trillion US economy and the $440-billion Iranian economy (World Bank 2018), one that is compromised by corruption, terror financing and close entanglements with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. While this will be a fairly easy business decision for most firms, it deprives European companies of potentially lucrative business deals. This ought to drive forward transatlantic cooperation to contain Iran, notwithstanding the dispute over the US withdrawal
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