... inherited from President Donald Trump. The “toxic” assets of the departed team include deterioriated relations with the European Union. The divisions between Washington and Brussels have existed since long before Trump’s arrival in the White House.... ... the so-called “
Blocking Statute
”, designed to protect European businesses from restrictive US measures targeting Cuba, Iran and Libya. For a long time, Washington avoided aggravating relations with the EU, although European companies were
subject ...
... near Abu Kamal to the Iranians as partial repayment of loans received from Iran in 2013–2019. A new military agreement with Iran was signed in Damascus on July 8, 2020. Adviser to the President of Syria
Bouthaina Shaaban
called it the first step to ... ... is debating adjusting its approaches to the Syrian reconstruction effort. The German expert
Muriel Asseburg
notes that the European Union’s consolidated standing is eroded by differences between the United Kingdom, Germany and France on the one hand,...
... The future of US hegemony in this area will depend on the policies of other major players, such as the EU, China and Russia.
European Union: Sanctions as an Alternative to Diplomacy and Weapons
Sanctions Against Russia: A Look Into 2020. RIAC Report
... ... In a number of areas, the US and EU regimes overlap. However, they differ when it comes to other aspects. Sanctions against Iran are a case in point. In 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the ...
... responsibility to find immediate and long-term solutions to the wicked security dilemmas of that theatre to stanch the recurring cycle of violence and conflict.
Already tense and divided along countless fault-lines, West Asia—from the Levant to the Iranian plateau—has been on high alert following the US assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the influential Commander of Iran’s Quds Force and Major General of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in Iraq.
Soleimani’s assassination was the latest ...
... Qasem Soleimani
. Was it the recent mob attack on the US Embassy in Bagdad? Was it the continuous pressure on the President by many US allies in the region – from Saudi Arabia to Israel – urging the White House to take more steps to stop the growing Iranian presence in the Middle East? Was it a flood of advice from self-proclaimed experts on Iran in Washington, who argued that elimination of Soleimani would shift the balance of powers in Tehran in favor of ‘reformers’ by depriving ‘hardliners’ ...
... potential influence over the outcome and will be following the process very closely.
There are multiple reasons as to why the European Union has limited influence over this situation. The EU has been sidelined in the conflict, in both its military and ... ... conflict in Syria and this automatically limits leverage. While the war still isn’t over, it is clear that Russia, Turkey, Iran and Assad are the major players who will define its final stages, with a limited role for the US. While we may now be seeing ...
... as terrorists. This is probably the biggest problem. Saudi Arabia also has a problem, but it is emerging as a country that is stopping and challenging radicalized militias.
Also, over the past 6–7 years, Qatar has started to work very closely with Iran, while Saudi Arabia and Iran have hostile relationships. Iran is responsible for creating great levels of instability in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf in general. Some people in the Gulf question the loyalty of Qatar because of its relationships with ...
... on the oil market and other oil exporting countries are ready to increase production volumes. In this case, Iran could simply lose its market share. Later, Washington cancelled the exemptions altogether, thus even more strengthening the blockade of Iranian oil exports.
4. Even though the European Union criticized the US for withdrawing from the JCPOA and revived the 1996 Blocking Statute, major companies are expected to abide by the US sanctions and leave Iran. Over the past 15 to 20 years, the United States has created a powerful tool ...
On June 27, 2019, RIAC hosted a meeting for the representatives of Russian International Affairs Council and the Iranian Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) to discuss the current state of Russian-European and Iranian-European relations.
On June 27, 2019, RIAC hosted a meeting for the representatives of Russian International Affairs Council ...
... However, the US Treasury Department often fines transgressors. Moreover, EU companies constitute the overwhelming majority of fined foreigners over the last ten years, and it is European companies that have paid the biggest fines to the US Treasury.
The European Union has been attempting to do something to protect itself from US secondary sanctions since at least the early 1990s. A powerful incentive was furnished by the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear programme. Washington has unilaterally resumed large-scale financial and sectoral sanctions against Iran. As a result, a large number of companies operating on the Iranian market, including European firms, are threatened with secondary ...
