{"id":56733,"date":"2018-03-17T11:50:27","date_gmt":"2018-03-17T06:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tns.world\/?p=56733"},"modified":"2018-03-17T11:50:27","modified_gmt":"2018-03-17T06:50:27","slug":"european-powers-propose-new-iran-sanctions-to-meet-trump-ultimatum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tns.world\/?p=56733","title":{"rendered":"European powers propose new Iran sanctions to meet Trump ultimatum"},"content":{"rendered":"

BRUSSELS\/PARIS March 17 (TNS):<\/strong> Britain, France and Germany have proposed fresh EU sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles and its role in Syria\u2019s war, according to a confidential document, in a bid to persuade Washington to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.<\/p>\n

The joint paper, seen by Reuters, was sent to European Union capitals on Friday, said two people familiar with the matter, to sound out support for such sanctions as they would need the support of all 28 EU member governments.<\/p>\n

The proposal is part of an EU strategy to save the accord signed by world powers that curbs Tehran\u2019s ability to develop nuclear weapons, namely by showing U.S. President Donald Trump that there are other ways to counter Iranian power abroad.<\/p>\n

Trump delivered an ultimatum to the European signatories on Jan. 12. It said they must agree to \u201cfix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal\u201d – which was sealed under his predecessor Barack Obama – or he would refuse to extend U.S. sanctions relief on Iran. U.S. sanctions will resume unless Trump issues fresh \u201cwaivers\u201d to suspend them on May 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will therefore be circulating in the coming days a list of persons and entities that we believe should be targeted in view of their publicly demonstrated roles,\u201d the document said, referring to Iranian ballistic missile tests and Tehran\u2019s role in backing Syria\u2019s government in the seven-year-old civil war.<\/p>\n

The steps would go beyond what a U.S. State Department cable seen by Reuters last month outlined as a path to satisfy Trump: simply committing to improving the nuclear deal.<\/p>\n

It also reflects frustration with Tehran. \u201cWe\u2019re getting irritated. We\u2019ve been talking to them for 18 months and have had no progress on these issues,\u201d a diplomat said.<\/p>\n

European Union foreign ministers will discuss the proposal at a closed-door meeting on Monday in Brussels, diplomats said.<\/p>\n

Analysts say the nuclear agreement, touted at the time as a breakthrough reducing the risk of a devastating wider war in the Middle East, could collapse if Washington pulls out.<\/p>\n

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif struck a defiant note towards Washington on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the United States makes the mistake of pulling out of the JCPOA, it will definitely be a painful mistake for the Americans,\u201d Iranian state television quoted Zarif as saying. The JCPOA is the formal name of the nuclear deal.<\/p>\n

Zarif did not refer to the possibility of new EU sanctions.<\/p>\n

The commission overseeing the nuclear accord said on Friday in Vienna that Iran was meeting its obligations under the deal.<\/p>\n

The joint document by Britain, France and Germany said they were engaged in \u201cintensive talks with the Trump administration to \u201cachieve a clear and lasting reaffirmation of U.S. support for the (nuclear) agreement beyond May 12\u201d.<\/p>\n

The proposal follows weeks of talks between the State Department and European powers as they try to mollify the Trump administration, which is split between those who want to tear up the agreement and those who wish to preserve it.<\/p>\n

A U.S. State Department official declined to comment, adding, \u201cWe don\u2019t want to get ahead of the EU\u2019s decision-making process … There is broad agreement on the areas that need strengthening, but how that\u2019s done in each of the three areas is the subject of our negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

A different U.S. official cited \u201cvery good\u201d talks with London, Paris and Berlin this week in Vienna on the issue.<\/p>\n

The document referred to sanctions that would \u201ctarget militias and commanders\u201d. It proposes building on the EU\u2019s existing sanctions list related to Syria, which includes travel bans and asset freezes on individuals, and a ban on doing business or financing public and private companies.<\/p>\n

It was strident in its criticism of Iran\u2019s ballistic weapons, which Tehran says are for defensive purposes, saying there were \u201ctransfers of Iranian missiles and missile technology\u201d to Syria and allies of Tehran, such as Houthi rebels in Yemen and Lebanon\u2019s Iran-backed Shi\u2019ite Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a proliferation of Iranian missile capabilities throughout the region is an additional and serious source of concern,\u201d the document said.<\/p>\n

Still, the issue is highly sensitive because the 2015 pact between Iran and six major powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – lifted international sanctions that crippled Iran\u2019s oil-based economy.<\/p>\n

While the EU retains some sanctions on Iranians over human rights abuses, it rescinded its economic and financial restrictions on Iran in 2016 and does not want to be seen to be reneging on the agreement.<\/p>\n

Iran signed up to limits on its uranium enrichment activity, which it has repeatedly said is for peaceful power generation, not atomic bombs, but has refused to discuss its missiles.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Republic has dismissed Western assertions that its activities in the Middle East are destabilising and also rejected Trump\u2019s demands to renegotiate the nuclear accord.<\/p>\n

In the joint document, Britain, France and Germany set out questions and answers that seek to show that legally, the European powers would not be breaking the terms of the nuclear deal. It said they are \u201centitled to adopt additional sanctions against Iran\u201d as long as they are not nuclear-related or were previously lifted under the nuclear agreement.<\/p>\n

The European powers said new sanctions are justified because Iran \u201cdid not commit further to stop undertaking ballistic missile destabilising activities\u201d under the nuclear agreement.<\/p>\n

The nuclear deal\u2019s terms did not cover ballistic missile activity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BRUSSELS\/PARIS March 17 (TNS): Britain, France and Germany have proposed fresh EU sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles and its role in Syria\u2019s war, according to a confidential document, in a bid to persuade Washington to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. The joint paper, seen by Reuters, was sent to European Union […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[932],"class_list":["post-56733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56735,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56733\/revisions\/56735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}