In response to questions put forward by the Mehr News Agency (MNA) staff member, leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland also added “this will not be easy because Iran will feel betrayed by the actions of the USA, and the EU will face enormous pressures as it tries to maintain and build on the achievements of the agreement, which has still not been fully implemented for the benefit of Iran.”
The questions and the Irish analyst's responses are as following:
You recently signed an Open Letter to Federica Mogherini and the European Imperative to Save the Iran Nuclear Deal. (http://openlettertomogherini.world/) what was the necessity of this letter?
The JCPOA was a very important Agreement that took many years to achieve. It is one of the very few serious moves to create stability in a region, and indeed in a world, that has been descending into chaos. Ms Mogherini’s support and that of the EU represents the profound concern of Europe that the decision by President Trump to renege on the deal is both diplomatically unacceptable and dangerously irresponsible. However even if the EU wants to maintain the JCPOA, each country, and the EU as a whole, will come under enormous pressure to back down. I signed this letter, along with many other academics, to show that there is a strong countervailing opinion in Europe, which must also be recognized by the EU leadership, and that we support the current stance of the EU in protecting the JCPOA and would be strongly opposed to any change that would back down in the face of US pressure.
What can the European Union do to save the JCPOA and guarantee Iran interests under the agreement?
A: The EU can engage in direct talks with Iran to try to ensure that politically and economically Iran’s interests can be maintained and developed, at least in so far as this applies to the EU countries. This will not be easy because Iran will feel betrayed by the actions of the USA, and the EU will face enormous pressures as it tries to maintain and build on the achievements of the agreement, which has still not been fully implemented for the benefit of Iran.
A US official says that they will impose penalties on European companies if they trade with Iran. Under this condition, will European companies dare for working with Iran, especially big companies?
A: This indeed one of the major challenges. The political challenge is significant, but already major divisions have opened up in recent years between the USA and the EU, and for some years NATO has no longer seemed so united or so strong in its mutual commitments. However the economic challenge is even greater, probably more acute, and less easily controlled by governments and the EU because it is dependent on the decisions of individual companies. In reneging on the JCPOA the US President ignored pleas from all his main European allies, but unless he changes course, sanctions will kick in later this year, hitting European firms that do business with Iran harder than they hit Iran itself. It seems unlikely that an EU plan to ban European companies from complying with US sanctions on Iran will stop firms going along with the US for fear of US punishment. However it must be recognized that this is only the latest in a number of decisions by President Trump that puts the US at odds with the EU. In June 2017 he withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement. He has threatened to impose tariffs on European steel, aluminium and vehicle producers on spurious national security grounds, and appears unprepared to back away from these threats; and he has regularly criticised other NATO states for not spending enough on defence - as I have already noted, he has even raised questions about whether the US would renege on its treaty commitments to defend a NATO ally under attack.
We need to note that this US President has not only reneged on the JCPOA, but on other key treaties with allies in Europe.
These are very dangerous times and I signed the letter as part of my commitment to continue to work towards a peaceful world and in opposition to those, especially those in the current US administration, who would drag our world into chaos.
Interview by: Javad Heirannia
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