Despite a last ditch effort to circumvent President Donald Trump’s sanctions on Iran by the European Union, when it comes down to it, European businesses will choose to trade with the U.S. and not Iran, predicts Clarion national security analyst and head of Clarion Intelligence Network Ryan Mauro.
Speaking on i24 News, Mauro says in addition to the profits from doing business with the U.S. over Iran, Europeans should be aware that working with Iran only props up the regime and is a betrayal of the Iranian people.
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Immediately after Trump announced new sanctions on Iran in June 2018, a number of European and other foreign companies announced they would stop doing business with Tehran including:
- Total SA, a French oil company
- A.P. Moller-Maersk, a Danish shipping company
- Peugeot, a car manufacturer, owned by the French PSA Group
- Lukoil, the second largest Russian oil company
- Reliance, an Indian company that owns the world’s largest oil-refining complex
- Siemens Corporation, a German conglomerate
Last week, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced a “special purpose vehicle” to “keep trade with Tehran flowing while the U.S. sanctions are in place.”
In practical terms, Mogherini said this means the EU is now setting up a “legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran,” which will allow European companies to continue to trade with the Islamic Republic.
However, Mauro predicts despite this move, European companies will “cave” to American sanctions, since they know they cannot do business with both the U.S. and Iran.
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