Given the European Union's promises on preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it is necessary for the Iranian officials to examine the EU package of proposals carefully to see if it is in agreement with the national interests of our country. Given the extensive sanctions against Iran imposed by the United States, these proposals should be able to fulfil our interests, especially in cases like selling oil and petrochemical products.
Obviously, if the European governments declare that they are not able to manage their companies on having trade relations with Iran, we can no longer speak of preserving the JCPOA by European governments.
The truth is that even before Donald Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, EU had not been able to meet our interests, let alone this time on which there remains but a name of the JCPOA. However, we're still waiting for the European countries' package of proposals to be reviewed by the experts.
One of the reasons that the European countries constantly change their decisions on JCPOA is that they're commercially dependent on the United States. The fact is that the volume of trade relations between the U.S. and Europe is really high, while this volume between Europe and Iran is not so remarkable. Europeans are never going to choose us over the United States if they are to take side in this equation. They will definitely go to Washington, and their decision is based on their own interests. Another point to be regarded here is that Trump can't accept that Europe has more trade relations with Iran in the post-JCPOA period than that with the United States. Therefore, the U.S. President, in addition to other aspects, looks at this issue from the economic perspective. Trump intends to redefine sanctions by reaping more economic, commercial, security and political benefits from Iran.
On the other hand, there have recently raised conflicts between the United States and the European Union over the transatlantic economic relations. The imposition of tariff on the imported steel and aluminum from Europe by the United States can be analyzed in the same vein. With the emergence of Trumpism inside America, The United States has moved to redefine its economic relations with other countries (and especially with Europe) based on protectionism.
Washington's confrontation with the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund also indicate this issue very well. With his decisions, Trump has challenged the "free trade" in the international system. The crisis that has already been created by Trump, and the subsequent strengthening of the nationalist approach in the United States have targeted the liberal order of the Western world.
In the second half of the twentieth century, we saw that the United States, in cooperation with institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Center, formed a kind of economic and liberal order in the international system. Even the United States supported ideas such as eliminating tolls and tariffs in line with the continuation of this liberal order. But the protectionist strategies which are now dominant in the White House are in conflict with this institutionalized order. The crisis that Trump has created in the Western world is a serious challenge. This kind of approach is backed up by many within the United States, though it has some opponents as well. What is certain is that this crisis isn't going to come to an end in near future, but will develop and extend.
MNA/TT