The United States and EU Can Still Avoid Conflict Over Iran Sanctions

The United States withdrew on May 8 from the Iran nuclear accord that it joined less than three years ago. Senior U.S. officials have called on America's European allies to capitulate to the reimposition of U.S. nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, the logic being that European companies cannot r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2018
Main Author: Kirschenbaum, Joshua
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Conflicts
German Marshall Fund of the United States
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The United States withdrew on May 8 from the Iran nuclear accord that it joined less than three years ago. Senior U.S. officials have called on America's European allies to capitulate to the reimposition of U.S. nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, the logic being that European companies cannot risk losing access to the U.S. market and therefore have no choice but to renege on promises they made to Iran. President Trump, who threatened "severe consequences" for anyone who continues sanctionable dealings with Iran, has pushed President Macron, Prime Minister May, Chancellor Merkel, and other heads of state into a corner. European leaders believe that the world is safer with Iran bound to the restrictions of the deal, which extended the window necessary for Iran to mount a nuclear breakout from weeks to approximately six months for a period of almost 15 years. To preserve their countries' independent foreign policies ---and an autonomous global role for the European Union ---the Europeans now have no choice but to stay in the deal and defy, or threaten to defy, the United States. Fortunately, given the flexibility built into the nuclear-related sanctions and the often-fluid nature of President Trump's adherence to previously articulated foreign policy views, all is not lost. Europe and the United States can still work together over the next several months ---when the most important nuclear-related sanctions come back into effect ---to turn lemons into lemonade.