Iran Nuclear deal: EU and Japan back Iran nuclear deal despite US

Despite the US decision to withdraw, the European Union and Japan reiterated on Thursday their support for the Iranian nuclear non-proliferation deal reached at UN-level in 2015. At a summit in Brussels, Japan's prime minister Abe and EU presidents Juncker and Tusk also committed to further develop the EU-Japan economic partnership agreement. It entered into force on 1 February bringing a third of the world's Gross Domestic Product together.

Read more: EU and Japan back Iran nuclear deal despite US

Iran Nuclear Deal is not dead yet regardless of what Trump says: Europe Is Determined to Save the Iran Deal – by Kourosh Ziabari

It has been more than 300 years since Iran and France launched official diplomatic ties. The initial contact between the two nations dates back to the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when the kingdom of Persia tried to secure support from European nations against a powerful neighbor: the Ottoman Empire.

France was a popular destination for Iranian kings wishing to spend their time abroad, and Iran was a strategically important country at the crossroads of the Silk Road with unlimited access to the Persian Gulf. This made Iran-France relations particularly close. The two countries maintained cordial ties until the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which changed the political landscape of the Middle East and caused a shift in Iranian foreign policy.

Iran-France relations suffered enormously as a result of the anti-Western tone of the revolution, and ties were cut for 11 months following the Gordji Affair. This refers to the case of Wahid Gordji, a translator at the Iranian Embassy in Paris, who was suspected by French intelligence of being behind the 1985-86 bomb attacks in the French capital.

There were other reasons for the decline in Iran-France relations. The most controversial surrounded the Iranian nuclear program, which started in the early 2000s and lasted until the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was agreed in 2015. The JCPOA, or the Iran nuclear deal, was signed by the Iranians and leading world powers, including the US, Britain, France, China, Russia, Germany and the European Union. During the talks, France was accused by the Iranian government of taking a hardline approach.

In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to François Nicoullaud, the former French ambassador to Iran, about the ups and downs of Iran-France relations and the new US sanctions.

For the complete interview click here: Europe Is Determined to Save the Iran Deal – LobeLog

EU Economy: US withdrawal from Iran deal is good for Europe - by Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata

Under the Trump administration the US has, to say the least, been acting erratically on the world stage. The current uncertainty over trade relations between Europe and the US, as well as Trump’s posturing on NATO, have left many questioning the Atlantic alliance, and whether the interests of the US and Europe have now truly diverged.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the EU can no longer rely on the US for its security, and must pursue its own security policy to protect its interests.

One area, however, where Trump’s new policies have been aligned with European interests is in his policy on Iran. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, promises to do more to protect the security of Europe than almost any decision made by Europe’s own political leaders this year.

Saying that the US’s withdrawal from the deal is in Europe’s best interest may seem strange considering how it has been reported in the media and the negative reaction of many of the EU’s political leaders. Trump’s decision was presented as reckless and highly risky, an impulsive move which jeopardises relations with Iran and increases the risks of the regime deciding to pursue a nuclear agenda.

The deal has clearly benefited private commercial interests within Europe: companies such as Airbus, Allianz and Total were quick to take advantage of the economic opportunities provided by the opening up of the Iranian market. It is not at all clear, however, how much European citizens have benefited economically from the deal, and it is impossible to see any benefit which compensates them for the security risk they have to shoulder.

The second justification, that the deal will in some way ‘Westernise’ Iran, is completely wrong-headed, and is based on a now outdated view of geopolitics. Autocratic regimes around the globe have demonstrated that it is possible to import Western goods and profit from Western trade without importing Western values. European goods can be bought in the absence of European democracy.

The narrative that the Iran deal is in the interests of Europe and that reimposing sanctions will be harmful seems only therefore to serve the interests of private companies looking to expand their business dealings in the country.

The companies who have profited from the deal, and who were well aware of the risks of doing business in Iran when they entered the market, are now crying out for protection and further economic benefit from Europe. As if profiting at the cost of European security was not enough, these companies now want the EU to foot the bill for their misadventures in the country.

Giving in to these demands is not the right course of action for Europe. The prospect of a nuclear Iran is Europe’s problem first and foremost. Three years after the JCPOA was signed, we can see that this was not the right way to deal with this problem. A new arrangement, one which places the security of European citizens as its top priority, should be the top priority for European leaders like Macron who believe that Europe should take more responsibility for its own security.

Read more: US withdrawal from Iran deal is good for Europe | View | Euronews

Middle East: Iran threatens to block Strait of Hormuz over US oil sanctions - by Saeed Kamali Dehghan

A potential confrontation between the US and Iran is brewing in the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran threatened to block the Gulf passageway in retaliation for Washington’s looming sanctions against Iranian oil exports – a threat the US military said would be immediately countered.

The Trump administration is demanding all countries end imports of Iranian oil by 4 November as part of its new policy of hostility towards Tehran after Washington’s unilateral exit from the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, responded during a rare visit to Europe this week by signalling that Tehran could disrupt regional crude shipments and cut its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

On Thursday the commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, whose forces patrol the Strait of Hormuz – through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes in tankers – said the Guards were ready to put Rouhani’s words into action if necessary.

The US navy signalled it was ready to confront Tehran militarily in response.

Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Guards commander, was quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency as saying: “We will make the enemy understand that either everyone can use the Strait of Hormuz or no one.”

Bill Urban, a spokesman for US Central Command, said Washington and its allies provided security in the region and would not stand idly by. “Together, we stand ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever international law allows,” he said.

The threats will bring back memories of the latter years of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, when US forces attacked Iranian territorial waters after a US ship struck an Iranian mine.
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Rouhani returned to Tehran on Thursday after lobbying European leaders to deliver a robust rebuttal to the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

“The Americans have claimed they want to completely stop Iran’s oil exports. They don’t understand the meaning of this statement because it has no meaning for Iranian oil not to be exported while the region’s oil is exported,” Rouhani said this week in Switzerland.

“If you can do such a thing, do it and see the result,” Rouhani added in a threat that was lauded at home by the commander of the Quds force, Qassem Suleimani.

Rouhani had two overarching messages during his visit to Europe, Geranmayeh said. “First, Iran expects more concrete action from all parties to the nuclear agreement to sustain economic channels. Second, sustaining oil exports and market share is a red line for Iran.

“If Trump implements his threat to squeeze Iran’s oil exports, Tehran is prepared to escalate against the US to impose direct costs for global oil markets. This is a core issue of national security behind which there is growing backing from the political establishment.”

Despite the US’s withdrawal, the deal has not yet collapsed as Europe remains committed to salvaging it. Geranmayeh said Europe was expected to present a more concrete economic package to Iran during a ministerial meeting at the JCPOA’s joint commission on Friday.

Also at stake is Rouhani’s political career. The agreement is the moderate cleric’s main achievement in office, for which he was rewarded with a second term last year, but Trump’s antagonism towards Iran has empowered Rouhani’s hardline opponents at home, risking him becoming an early lame duck.

Trump’s hostility has compounded the country’s economic woes, while Iran is going through weeks of protests due to a currency crisis and environmental issues. Hardliners have started their onslaught on Rouhani, blaming his economic performance for the protests.

Note EU-Digest: some political analysts believe that one of the reasons Trump is meeting with Putin is also to find out how Russia would react in case the US and its two major allies in the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia, attacked Iran.

 Read more: Iran threatens to block Strait of Hormuz over US oil sanctions | World news | The Guardian

Iran Nuclear Deal: Germany committed to Iran deal, even if US exits

 As the Iran deal deadline approaches, Germany and its European co-signatories are sticking to the agreement. US President Donald Trump plans to announce a decision on the accord on Tuesday.

The German government reaffirmed its support for the Iran deal on Monday, as the agreement's deadline quickly approaches. The deal "makes the world safer," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said after meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"We don't think there is any justifiable reason to pull out of this agreement and we continue to make the case for it to our American friends," Maas said.

The Iran nuclear agreement of 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has been imperiled by a possible United States exit, after President Donald Trump demanded that signatories fix "the terrible flaws" in the accord before May 12, when the sanctions exemptions are due to expire.

Read more:  Germany committed to Iran deal, even if US exits | News | DW | 07.05.2018

France - US Relations: French President Emmanuel Macron rocks US Congress with great speech

French President Emmanuel Macron hit on the issues of climate change, nationalism, trade and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in his speech to a joint session of US Congress, calling on the United States to engage more with the world.

After what has been seen as a friendly state visit to Washington, Macron's speech laid out a view of global leadership starkly different from US President Donald Trump's "America First."

What Macron said

• The United States and France have a long history together
• He criticized Trump's isolationist principles
• Climate change is real. We have no Planet B
• Macron is sure the US will someday come back to to the Paris Agreement
• We must fight against fake news
• Iran will never have nuclear weapons nuclear weapons
• At a press conference later, Macron said he believed Trump would pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal

"We have disagreements between the United States and France. It may happen, like in all families," Macron said.

Read more: French President Emmanuel Macron rocks US Congress with speech | News | DW | 25.04.2018

Iran Nuclear Deal: Trump's oft-told tale of US payout to Iran not factual at all

President Donald Trump likes to tell a story about the U.S. paying out billions of dollars to Iran as part of the multinational deal freezing its nuclear program and easing sanctions against it. What he doesn't say is that most of that money was Iran's to begin with. The rest relates to an old debt the U.S. had with Iran.

The numbers and some details change in his retelling — dating back to the 2016 campaign — but his bottom line is always the same: The Obama administration was hoodwinked into giving Iran all that money, some of it in a huge and hidden bundle of cash.

The latest iteration of his claim Tuesday and the reality behind it:

TRUMP said : "The Iran deal is a terrible deal. We paid $150 billion. We gave $1.8 billion in cash. That's actual cash, barrels of cash. It's insane. It's ridiculous. It should have never been made. But we will be talking about it." — remarks before a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. At a news conference Tuesday, he spoke about "giving them, Iran, $150 billion at one point."

THE FACTS: There was no $150 billion payout from the U.S. treasury. The money he refers to represents Iranian assets held abroad that were frozen until the deal was reached and Tehran was allowed to access its funds.

The payout of about $1.8 billion is a separate matter. That dates to the 1970s, when Iran paid the U.S. $400 million for military equipment that was never delivered because the government was overthrown and diplomatic relations ruptured.

That left people, businesses and governments in each country indebted to partners in the other, and these complex claims took decades to sort out in tribunals and arbitration. For its part, Iran paid settlements of more than $2.5 billion to U.S. citizens and businesses.

The day after the nuclear deal was implemented, the U.S. and Iran announced they had settled the claim over the 1970s military equipment order, with the U.S. agreeing to pay the $400 million principal along with about $1.3 billion in interest.

The $400 million was paid in cash and flown to Tehran on a cargo plane, which gave rise to Trump's dramatic accounts of money stuffed in barrels or boxes and delivered in the dead of night. The arrangement provided for the interest to be paid later, not crammed into containers.

Read more: AP FACT CHECK: Trump's oft-told tale of US payout to Iran

EU-US Relations: EU Sours on Reviving Trade-Pact Push With U.S. Amid Tariffs Row

The European Union distanced itself from the idea of reviving talks on a broad free-trade agreement with the U.S. as part of EU efforts to gain a permanent exemption from President Donald Trump’s controversial import tariffs on steel and aluminum.

A day after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Trump administration is willing to restart negotiations on the stalled Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the European Commission said it’s seeking a “dialog” with Washington “on issues of common interest” including global steel overcapacity.

“More contacts will be held in the coming weeks to agree the exact scope and framework of this EU-U.S. dialog,” a spokesman for the commission, the 28-nation EU’s executive arm in Brussels, said on Friday. “The commission is committed to engage in this process in an open and constructive way. However, it should be clear that this dialog does not represent the revival of the process for a comprehensive Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.”

The TTIP negotiations to expand the world biggest economic relationship have been frozen since Trump entered the White House with an “America First” agenda that has shunned multilateral trade initiatives. This extended to the completed Trans-Pacific Partnership, from which Trump withdrew.

“He terminated the trans-Pacific deal; he didn’t terminate TTIP,” Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday.

“That was meant quite deliberately and quite overtly as a message that we’re open to discussions with the European Commission.”

EU leaders showed as much annoyance as relief at the temporary exemption on March 23, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying “we won’t talk about anything while there’s a gun pointed at our head.”

Note EU-Digest: Given the hole Mr. Trump buried the US in with his tariffs, quitting the Paris Climate Agreement, getting out of the TTIP negotiations, and  putting the agreed on Iran deal on ice,  the EU in no way should let the Trump Administration get away with this. It is high time for the EU to let the Trump Administration swallow their own spit, and accept the consequences of their arrogance.  


Read  more: EU Sours on Reviving Trade-Pact Push With U.S. Amid Tariffs Row - Bloomberg

EU-US Relations: Will the EU-US relationship ever be the same again? by Rolf Mützenich

On 9 November 2016, the unthinkable happened: Donald Trump was elected 45th President of the United States of America. Since then the US has not only lived up to the worst anti-American clichés touted by the extremes of Left and Right – it has surpassed them. A year of ‘America First’ has put a serious strain on ties between the US and its European allies. But is the relationship really in crisis?

Let’s start with the positives. The US president may have offended numerous heads of state and government, but he hasn’t (yet) provoked a war. At home, Trump has only managed to push two major projects through Congress: a long-anticipated tax overhaul and the appointment of the conservative Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Otherwise, it seems America’s famed system of ‘checks and balances’ is still functioning pretty well – especially when compared with the creeping authoritarianism we see in some EU member states such as Hungary and Poland. It’s no Russia or China either.

Following Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, a number of US states created a ‘Climate Alliance’ committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Several American cities are offering refuge and support to immigrants from Latin America facing deportation. US courts have blocked plans preventing transsexuals from joining the military, and knocked down three attempts to ban Muslims from certain countries from entering the US. (The Supreme Court has since reinstated the ban.)
 
Trump’s efforts to do away with ex-president Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms have failed. Plans to build a wall along the Mexican border have also come to nothing. Encouragingly, the US Department of Justice appointed Robert Mueller to oversee an FBI investigation into the president’s Russian connections and those of his entourage. So despite countless presidential tweets attacking the system, the separation of powers is still working.

A joint European security and defence policy is long overdue, and PESCO is just the latest in a long list of initiatives and experiments. As we have seen, Europe is highly inefficient when it comes to defence spending. Much work is needlessly repeated: the EU has 17 types of tank, 29 types of frigates and destroyers, and 20 types of fighter jets. Procedures for joint missions are complex, the financing arrangements risky.

PESCO is a first step in the right direction. It doesn’t herald the ‘mega-army’ some have predicted. Rather it puts forward an ambitious aim of cooperating intelligently and boosting military capabilities by avoiding unnecessary duplication and using limited resources more effectively.

This includes the establishment of a joint European Defence Fund (EDF) of €500 million; the European Defence Agency, founded in 2004; and the creation of smaller EU battlegroups (military units) to respond to and prevent crises. If successful, PESCO will represent a first step towards greater European independence in the area of security policy.

We should also take care to ensure justified criticism of Trump does not lead to defeatism, cynicism, self-righteousness or anti-Americanism. European countries have no other option but to continue working with the Trump administration as best they can, whilst seeking to maintain contact with Congress and work with American politicians who take an interest in Europe, as well as with NGOs and think tanks.

We must do everything in our power to ensure that not only is there life after Donald Trump, but that the project of the ‘West’ still exists. It is also important that the EU, when there is disagreement, stands in unity against Britain and America, the former leading powers on each side of the Atlantic.

We need both: more Europe and more democracy on the one hand, and the preservation of transatlantic foundations for the post-Trump era on the other. Democracies must respond to the advance of authoritarian structures and individuals by democratising their security policy, because democracy and peace are inextricably linked.

We must observe and enforce rules and standards, and we need credible sanctions against those who break them. We need to expand international (criminal) jurisdiction and to strengthen international organisations and the rights of national parliaments and civil society at home and abroad. If Europe is to overcome the significant challenges facing our world, it must involve the authoritarian superpowers of China and Russia.

However, that cannot replace a newly-aligned transatlantic partnership, where Europe and the US stand on an equal footing. Trump is not America and he will not be in power forever. The goal must be to ensure that the next American president does not take office with the western world in ruins.

Read more: Will the EU-US relationship ever be the same again? | International Politics and Society - IPS

EU-USA Relations: Trump's Iran plans driving EU toward Russia and China: Germany

U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to “de-certify” the international nuclear deal with Iran is driving a wedge between Europe and the United States and bringing Europeans closer to Russia and China, Germany said ,

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has spoken out repeatedly against Trump’s likely step, but his latest comments aimed to spell out the impact it would have in starker terms.

“It’s imperative that Europe sticks together on this issue,” Gabriel, a Social Democrat, told the RND German newspaper group. “We also have to tell the Americans that their behavior on the Iran issue will drive us Europeans into a common position with Russia and China against the USA.”

 Read more Trump's Iran plans driving EU toward Russia and China: Germany

Iran-USA: Should US policy against Iran be taken seriously? - by Thierry Meyssan

The US President’s speech on Iran was preceded by a Press conference at the State Department accusing Hezbollah of exporting terrorism all over the world on behalf of Teheran . To show that the US was ready to put its money where its mouth is, a reward was offered for the arrest of two of its commanders. But - surprise! – not a word about Hezbollah’s victories against the jihadists, nor about the 800 million dollars that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has just offered to the Lebanese Resistance.

President Trump then took the floor and wasted no time in loading insults on the inheritance of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini, the Revolutionary Guard, and the Supreme Leader .

He proffered all sorts of weary old accusations which have long been disproven, and laid the foundations for accusations that they are responsible for the resurgence of Al-Qaïda.

Even before his speech had come to a close, oil was already up by 85 cents per barrel, since the market was betting on the cancellation of Iranian oil investments. In the hours that followed, every one of the Western states and Russia deplored Donald Trump’s aggressivity, while Israël and Saudi Arabia applauded.

However, the only decisions announced by President Trump and the State Department are the reward mentioned above and the pause in the certification of the 5+1 agreement before Congress ; the latter decision does not concern international relations, but exclusively the interior politics of the United States.

The agreement of 14 July 2015 was adopted by the United Nations Security Council, which alone can repeal it. Of course, all diplomats know that behind this multilateral agreement, the United States and Iran have agreed to a secret bilateral protocol which defines their respective roles in the Greater Middle East. At the time of writing, no-one is able to say whether or not President Trump has called this protocol into question. Consequently, all reactions to the declarations of the State Department and to his speech on 13 October are nothing more than fan dancing.

Read more: Should US policy against Iran be taken seriously?, by Thierry Meyssan

Europe backs original Iran deal while Saudis hail Trump's move

The European Union's Federica Mogherini said the current deal is "working and delivering", adding that the rest of the world would work to preserve the agreement.

The foreign affairs policy-maker also criticised Mr Trump's unilateral action, contending the deal is not a domestic issue and is not in the hands of any one president to terminate.

British Prime Minister Theresa May released a joint statement with France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel, saying they are "concerned by the possible implications".

"We stand committed to the [deal] and its full implementation by all sides", they wrote, adding that it "is in our shared national security interest".

"We look to Iran to engage in constructive dialogue to stop de-stabilising actions and work towards negotiated solutions," the statement said.

Mr Macron also said the latest developments "will not put an end to the Iranian nuclear accord, and that together all the parties in France and its European partners will continue to meet their commitments".

He added that he was considering visiting Tehran after speaking by phone with President Rouhani.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry stressed on the "inadmissibility of using aggressive and threatening rhetoric in international relations", saying Moscow "remains committed" to the deal.

The statement added that "there can be no question of any resumption of sanctions by the UN Security Council".

Read more: Europe backs Iran deal, Saudis hail Trump's move - BBC News

Iran Nuclear Deal: Trump’s confusing attempt to torpedo the Iran deal, explained - by Zeeshan Aleem

President Donald Trump is expected to announce next week that he will “decertify” the Iran nuclear deal, arguing that the agreement is not in the national security interest of the US. 

That doesn’t mean the deal will immediately collapse. Instead, the future fate of the landmark pact will essentially be punted to Congress, triggering a 60-day review process. Lawmakers will need to decide whether to reimpose the crippling sanctions on Iran that were suspended in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear activities in a deal struck in 2015.

If Congress decides to put sanctions back in place, that will effectively kill the US’s participation in the Iran deal. The big question will be how the other countries that signed the deal — the UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia — react to the American withdrawal from the pact. 

The early signs are that the Trump administration would be left isolated on the world stage. The other nations say the deal is working — as does the UN watchdog tasked with monitoring Iran’s compliance — and that they are not interested in pulling out of it and rejoining the US in slapping on new sanctions.

When news of Trump’s plan to decertify the deal broke yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters, “It is very important to preserve it in its current form and of course the participation of the United States will be a very significant factor in this regard.” 

President Donald Trump may believe he can use his self-professed skills as a dealmaker to negotiate better terms. For now, though, there’s no reason to think he’s right.

During an event at the Atlantic Council in September, David O’Sullivan, the European Union’s ambassador to the US, said that Europe could in fact reciprocate US sanctions on European companies for doing business with Iran. 

“I’ve no doubt that if this scenario materializes, the European Union will act to protect the legitimate interests of our companies,” he said.

And of course Iran could argue that it’s no longer bound by the terms of the agreement. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said in September that walking away from the deal is an “option” if the US withdraws. Such a move by Tehran would allow Iran to ramp up its nuclear program all over again — this time largely free of economic sanctions from any country but the US.

Analysts say new US sanctions would have far less bite since Washington would be imposing them on its own. The White House could also alienate key allies by pulling out of a deal those countries believe is working. 

“We’re talking about a major rift in the trans-Atlantic alliance,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a Middle East expert at the Center for a New American Security and former senior Pentagon official. “Some countries and some companies will walk away from Iran because of fear of losing the US market; others will call the US’s bluff and challenge us. What you’ll end up with is a leaky, messy sanctions regime.”

Whether Congress will choose to reimpose sanctions is an open question.

Republicans only need a 51-vote majority in order to slap them back on Iran, but enough GOP lawmakers have said they’re uncertain about what to do with Iran that sanctions may be difficult or impossible to pass.

As the Washington Post reports, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not eager to add even more to the legislative calendar as his party struggles to pass a single major piece of legislation in 2017.

The Europeans are thinking of creative ways to protect themselves from US sanctions should they start up again. One unnamed Western diplomat told the Washington Post that Europeans are looking into 1990s-era regulations designed to shield European companies and individuals from sanctions that would punish them from doing business with Iran.

Without Europe totally on board, the sanctions simply won’t be as effective.

Note EU-Digest: Bottom-Line: If you believe Donald Trump is a good negotiator, you certainly will also believe Santa Claus is for real.

Read more: Trump’s confusing attempt to torpedo the Iran deal, explained - Vox

EU-Iran Relations: Europe’s governments look to bypass Trump to save Iranian nuclear deal - by Julian Borger

European governments fear a concerted effort to persuade Donald Trump to continue to certify the Iran nuclear deal may have failed and are now looking for other ways to try to salvage the two year-old agreement.

European lobbying efforts are now focused on Congress which will have two months to decide – in the absence of Trump’s endorsement of the 2015 deal – whether to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions.

Fresh sanctions could in turn trigger Iranian withdrawal and a ramping up of its now mostly latent nuclear programme, taking the Middle East back to the brink of another major conflict.

When Trump threatened to withhold certification by a congressional deadline of 15 October, the UN general assembly in mid-September was seen by the European signatories of the agreement – the UK, France and Germany – as the last best chance to convince Trump of the dangers of destroying it.

But according to the accounts of several diplomats involved, the effort got nowhere.

Angela Merkel, in the final stages of an election campaign, could not attend, so it was left to Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron to use their meetings with the US president in New York to make a personal plea to keep the deal alive.

The French president made no headway. To his consternation, Trump kept repeating that under the deal, the Iranians would have a nuclear bomb in five years, and nothing Macron could say would persuade him otherwise

Note EU-Digest: Isn't it high time for all the signatories, minus the USA,  who signed the Iran nuclear deal; and Paris Climate agreement, specially those nations within  the EU, to bypass Trump, and continue to honor both agreements, and tell Trump that in case he steps out of the Paris Climate Agreement, they will start sanctioning and  taxing US products produced by ecology unfriendly US companies. 


Read more: Europe’s governments look to bypass Trump to save Iranian nuclear deal | World news | The Guardian

Iran: Group of Christian leaders backs Iran deal - by Nahal Toosi

More than 50 Christian leaders have signed on to a letter urging members of Congress to “remember the wisdom of Jesus” and approve the nuclear deal with Iran, the latest in a growing lobbying push by religious groups favoring the agreement.

The signatories, who represent denominations and organizations ranging from Catholic to Quaker to Pentecostal, praise the deal’s technical provisions while also arguing its merits on moral grounds.

“As faith leaders from the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons in war, we have a particular responsibility to speak boldly when opportunities arise that lead to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation at home and around the world,” the 51 faith leaders write. “This historic accord moves us one small step closer to a world free of nuclear weapons.”

The letter, which will be sent to lawmakers Tuesday, goes on: “This is a moment to remember the wisdom of Jesus who proclaimed from the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God’ (Matthew 5:9)… There is no question we are all better off with this deal than without it.”

Read more: Group of Christian leaders backs Iran deal - Nahal Toosi - POLITIC

Iran Deal: Watch Who Is Doing the Warning - by Richard Phillips

Without commenting on the ins and outs of the arcana of the Iran Nuclear Deal, it may be instructive to examine the issue of accountability that surrounds it.

In a speech at American University in Washington D.C, President Barack Obama said, “Many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran Deal.”

As might be expected, those in opposition to the deal declared “no fair.” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell summed up the opposition response by demanding that the President “stop demonizing his opponents.”

Therein rests the issue of accountability. It is a mere statement of fact that the same folks who cheer-led the United States into its greatest foreign policy fiasco since the Vietnam War are the same folks who obstinately and categorically reject the Iran Deal.

This raises the question: In American politics, are there no consequences for one’s previous actions?

The rejectionist position starts with the hawk’s “amen corner” in the U.S. Senate, led by Arizona Senator John McCain, whose approach to every foreign policy confrontation involves to one degree or another the use of force.

He claims that the Iran Deal “will nuclearize the Middle East” and that the deal is “fundamentally flawed.” He called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry “delusional.”

Keep in mind that this is the same John McCain who helped lead the charge in the U.S. Senate toward the Iraq War. To paraphrase President Obama, “He was wrong then — and he is wrong now.”

Read more: Iran Deal: Watch Who Is Doing the Warning - The Globalist

Iran nuclear deal: UN Security Council endorses Iran nuclear deal- by Sarah Joanne Taylor

The United Nations Security Council has endorsed the Iran nuclear deal, although the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander has deemed the agreement “unacceptable.”

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency quoted Commander Mohammed Ali Jafari:
“Some parts of the draft have clearly crossed the Islamic republic’s red lines, especially in Iran’s military capabilities,” he reportedly said ahead of the resolution being passed in New York. 

The fifteen-member body unanimously agreed to adopt the resolution, which will curb Iran’s nuclear programme for the long term in return for the lifting of sanctions.

As the deal was agreed, the Security Council warned sanctions can be reimposed if Tehran breaches the agreement within the next decade.

Read more: UN Security Council endorses Iran nuclear deal | euronews, world news