European groups at risk of US sanctions over Iran
Trump’s national security adviser wants to make sure Tehran ‘never gets nuclear weapons’
European companies risk being hit by US sanctions if they defy Donald Trump’s calls for commercial links with Iran to be severed, the White House national security adviser warned on Sunday.
John Bolton said he expected Europe ultimately to go along with the US after the president’s decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran following his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.
But asked on CNN whether EU companies could be hit by the US as a consequence of doing business in the Islamic republic, Mr Bolton said: “The answer is it’s possible”, adding that it depended on the conduct of their governments.
“The president said in his statement on Tuesday that countries that continue to deal with Iran could face US sanctions,” he said separately on ABC. Europeans were going to face effective US sanctions “because much of what they would like to sell to Iran involves US technology, for which the licences will not be available.”
Mr Trump’s decision on the nuclear accord last week has broadened a rift with America’s EU allies, coming on top of a festering trade dispute. It has triggered angry responses from top EU politicians who have vowed to keep the agreement alive and protect the interests of their companies.
Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, told Europe-1 radio last week that Europe should not accept the status of “vassals” to the US. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said Mr Trump’s decision to pull out of the deal made the situation in the Middle East even more difficult.
In a call with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, UK prime minister Theresa May reiterated the UK’s position that it and its European partners remained firmly committed to ensuring the deal was upheld, and welcomed Mr Rouhani’s commitment to abide by its terms,
While they publicly denounce the US decision, European governments are planning to appeal for exemptions for key companies operating in Iran. Sanctions experts stressed that for all the focus on the EU response, the bigger question was how major Asian powers react to the US sanctions given the volume of trade between them and Iran. In particular, the vacuum left by major western multinationals will open up opportunities for Chinese investors and businesses less concerned about the reach of US sanctions.
European executives have acknowledged in private that it would be hard for any multinational company with businesses and financial ties to the US to remain active in Iran given the scope of US sanctions.
Mr Bolton asked in his ABC interview: “Why would any business, why would the shareholders of any business want to do business with the world’s central banker of international terrorism?”
But he also attempted to play down the scale of the transatlantic rift. “I think we’ll work with all of the Europeans,” he said. “We all share the common objective of making sure Iran never gets nuclear weapons.”
Tensions with Tehran have increased in the region in the wake of Mr Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Iran accord, with direct hostilities taking place between Iran and Israel.
Israeli military facilities were targeted by rocket fire from within Syria by Iran’s elite Quds Force, according to Israeli officials. Israel hit back by targeting almost all of Iran’s military sites in Syria, claiming to have hit dozens of targets in at least seven locations.
Analysts in both countries warned that the subsequent pause in hostilities was unlikely to last long. The Israeli army sounded the all clear in the occupied Golan Heights, which was hit by 20 Iranian-fired rockets last week. The rockets missed their targets — Israeli military posts — but Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said at the weekend the exchanges had shown that Israel was “totally vulnerable”.