The Washington Post reported on Wednesday Jan. 15, that the United States had threatened to impose a 25% tariff on European automobile imports if the three European powers, namely Germany, France and the UK (the E3), did not formally accuse Iran of breaking the nuclear agreement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on twitter “Appeasement confirmed. E3 sold out remnants of #JCPOA to avoid new Trump tariffs. It won’t work my friends. You only whet his appetite. Remember your high school bully?”
The following is an article in this regard written jointly by 'Adam Bienkov' and staff writers of Iran's English language paper 'Iran Daily' under the heading: "Iran raps Europe for caving in to ‘high school bully’ Trump in nuclear deal."
US President Donald Trump’s threats to allies were backfiring as European leaders spoke openly about loosening their alliance with the US. Trump has threatened Europe with a new trade war if it defies him on Iran. European leaders were talking openly about cutting back on their ties to the US.
President Donald Trump’s decision to assassinate Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the Commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has exposed a growing rift between the US and its historically closest allies in Europe.
The attack was met with a remarkable level of criticism by European leaders. The UK threatened to cut back on its long-standing defense alliance with Trump, and Germany suggested openly that the importance of its relationship with the US was declining.
Trump responded by threatening European leaders with a new trade war if they remained committed to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Yet rather than bring US allies into line, Trump’s threats merely highlighted the declining importance that many European leaders now place in the transatlantic alliance.
Here’s how Trump’s international allies were increasingly abandoning the president as his administration alienates them.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was endorsed by Trump when he entered office and has previously been keen to stay close to the Trump administration.
However, Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Soleimani has triggered a remarkable turnaround in the UK prime minister’s approach to the US.
However, Trump’s order to assassinate Lt. Gen. Soleimani has triggered a remarkable turnaround in the UK prime minister’s approach to the US.
In the immediate aftermath of Lt. Gen. Soleimani’s assassination in a drone strike in Iraq, an operation the US did not warn the UK would take place, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab declared that the conflict was “in none of our interests,” adding that the only winners of an Iranian war would be the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
Johnson also spoke out against the US policy, urging Trump to “dial this down” and warning that targeting Iranian cultural sites, as Trump threatened, would be a war crime.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace went even further, telling The Sunday Times that Trump’s isolationist foreign policy had prompted the UK to consider cutting back on its defense ties with the US.
Wallace said “I worry if the United States withdraws from its so-called leadership around the world,” adding that “the assumptions of 2010 that we were always going to be part of a US coalition is really just not where we are going to be.”
In the aftermath of Lt. Gen. Soleimani’s assassination, a German government representative warned the US against any further conflict, telling reporters that Trump’s intervention amounted to a “dangerous escalation.”
The attack, which damaged Germany’s policy of engagement with Tehran, has triggered open debate about the value of Europe’s alliance with the US.
The attack, which damaged Germany’s policy of engagement with Tehran, has triggered open debate about the value of Europe’s alliance with the US.
In recent days, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke openly about the declining importance of Europe’s alliance with the US.
She told the Financial Times “There’s been a shift,” adding, “The United States’ focus on Europe is declining — that will be the case under any president.”
She told the Financial Times “There’s been a shift,” adding, “The United States’ focus on Europe is declining — that will be the case under any president.”
In response, she said, “We in Europe, and especially in Germany, need to take on more responsibility.”
France, alongside the UK and other European countries, was instrumental in attempts to forge and maintain a new relationship with Iran through the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal.
It has strongly criticized Trump’s decision in May 2018 to withdraw the US from that deal, and the French government quickly called on the Trump administration to step back from any further conflict.
The Trump administration responded by threatening a new trade war with Europe, imposing tariffs on cars if European leaders remained committed to the Iranian nuclear deal.
France instead joined with Germany and the UK in signing a statement of support for retaining the deal, while launching a dispute mechanism designed to supposedly bring Iran back into line.
But Iran, recently, criticized three European states that had succumbed to “high school bully” Donald Trump when they triggered a dispute mechanism in a nuclear deal the US president dishonored in 2018.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday Jan. 15, that the United States had threatened to impose a 25% tariff on European automobile imports if the three European powers, namely Germany, France and the UK (the E3), did not formally accuse Iran of breaking the nuclear agreement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on twitter “Appeasement confirmed. E3 sold out remnants of #JCPOA to avoid new Trump tariffs. It won’t work my friends. You only whet his appetite. Remember your high school bully?”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on twitter “Appeasement confirmed. E3 sold out remnants of #JCPOA to avoid new Trump tariffs. It won’t work my friends. You only whet his appetite. Remember your high school bully?”
Zarif added “If you want to sell your integrity, go ahead. But DO NOT assume high moral/legal ground, YOU DON’T HAVE IT.”
The nuclear pact was agreed in 2015 between Tehran and the 5+1 group, offering Iran sanctions relief if it limited its nuclear work. Trump withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reimposed US sanctions, saying he wanted a tougher deal.
Iran has responded to the US withdrawal by gradually scaling back its commitments to the pact, saying this month it rejected all limits on uranium enrichment, although it says it wants to keep the deal in place.
The E3 recently triggered the nuclear accord’s dispute mechanism. London said it was now time for a “Trump deal” to replace it, while Paris said broad talks were needed.
Two European diplomats confirmed Washington had threatened tariffs but claimed leaders of the three European states had already decided to trigger the mechanism before that.
Another diplomat said a suggestion that the Europeans were acting in response to Trump’s threat risked “discrediting the Europeans, but then Trump doesn’t really care about that”.
The nuclear dispute lies at the heart of Iran’s standoff with the West that spiraled into open conflict when Washington assassinated the top Iranian general in Baghdad and Tehran responded with missile strikes on US targets in Iraq.
According to the Guardian, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer confirmed that the US threatened to impose 25% tariffs on cars to push Europeans to initiate proceedings against Iran.
The German defense minister at a press conference in London said “This threat exists.” Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters on Thursday Jan. 16, “This expression or threat, as you will, does exist.”
France’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman did not comment on reports of US threats, but noted that the Europeans had been threatening to trigger the dispute procedure for months.
She said the European countries had made clear they do not want to leave the accord, but to find a way to resolve differences under it, and that Washington understood that position.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized Britain, France and Germany for giving in to pressure from the US over the nuclear deal. Lavrov noted that the European Union boasted about creating a mechanism for trade with Iran bypassing US sanctions, but never put it into action.
He described the move by Britain, France and Germany as a “dangerous turn,” arguing that the three nations used the moment of heightened tensions between the US and Iran to “blame Iran for all what happened.”
Henry Rome, analyst on Iran with Eurasia Group risk consultancy, tweeted that while the Europeans had been planning to trigger the dispute procedure anyway, the perception that they “quickly bent to Trump threat is very damaging” and described it as a victory for Iran.
The Europeans have long opposed Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal. The dispute mechanism begins a diplomatic process that can end with UN sanctions on Iran “snapping back” into place, although the Europeans claim that is not their aim.
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