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AFP
Tehran
Iran accused European governments on Thursday of sacrificing a troubled 2015 nuclear deal to avoid trade reprisals from US President Donald Trump who has spent nearly two years trying to scupper it.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Trump was again behaving like a “high school bully” and the decision by Britain, France and Germany to heed his pressure to lodge a complaint over Iranian compliance deprived them of any right to claim the moral high ground.
The three governments “sold out remnants of #JCPOA (the nuclear deal) to avoid new Trump tariffs,” Zarif charged.
“It won’t work my friends. You only whet his appetite. Remember your high school bully?”
Germany’s defence minister on Thursday confirmed a Washington Post report that the US had threatened to impose a 25% tariff on imports of European cars if EU governments continued to back the nuclear deal.
“This expression or threat, as you will, does exist,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told a news conference during a visit to London.
Zarif said Europe’s unwillingness to antagonise the US made a mockery of its stated determination to rescue the nuclear deal. “If you want to sell your integrity, go ahead,” Zarif tweeted. “But DO NOT assume high moral/legal ground.”
The European states triggered a dispute mechanism established under the deal, which allows a party to claim significant non-compliance by another party before a joint commission, with appeals possible to an advisory board and ultimately to the UN Security Council.
Since Washington pulled out of the agreement and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions in 2018, EU governments have sought to find a way to allow businesses to continue trading with Iran without incurring huge US penalties.
Tehran
Iran accused European governments on Thursday of sacrificing a troubled 2015 nuclear deal to avoid trade reprisals from US President Donald Trump who has spent nearly two years trying to scupper it.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Trump was again behaving like a “high school bully” and the decision by Britain, France and Germany to heed his pressure to lodge a complaint over Iranian compliance deprived them of any right to claim the moral high ground.
The three governments “sold out remnants of #JCPOA (the nuclear deal) to avoid new Trump tariffs,” Zarif charged.
“It won’t work my friends. You only whet his appetite. Remember your high school bully?”
Germany’s defence minister on Thursday confirmed a Washington Post report that the US had threatened to impose a 25% tariff on imports of European cars if EU governments continued to back the nuclear deal.
“This expression or threat, as you will, does exist,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told a news conference during a visit to London.
Zarif said Europe’s unwillingness to antagonise the US made a mockery of its stated determination to rescue the nuclear deal. “If you want to sell your integrity, go ahead,” Zarif tweeted. “But DO NOT assume high moral/legal ground.”
The European states triggered a dispute mechanism established under the deal, which allows a party to claim significant non-compliance by another party before a joint commission, with appeals possible to an advisory board and ultimately to the UN Security Council.
Since Washington pulled out of the agreement and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions in 2018, EU governments have sought to find a way to allow businesses to continue trading with Iran without incurring huge US penalties.
