SNEAKING AROUND

Report: European Nations Circumventing U.S. Sanctions to Keep Iran Deal Alive

To keep afloat until Trump is “replaced and... a new U.S. president [can] rejoin the deal.”

European nations have been considering ways to circumvent U.S. sanctions and keep the Iran nuclear deal alive “or a few more years” after the White House pulled exited the agreement in May. NBC News reports several nations have looked at using their central banks to send money to Tehran, gambling that Trump wouldn’t go so far as to sanction an ally’s government bank—despite the president’s promise to sanction anyone who supports the Islamic Republic. They also are pushing for “small- and medium-sized businesses” with no U.S. operations to do business in Iran, rather than international operations that have overwhelmingly chosen to comply with U.S. directives. The European Union has also recently “revamped” a law known as the “blocking statute,” which “prohibits European companies from complying with U.S. sanctions, and threatens to punish those who comply anyway.” The European officials reportedly hope to keep the deal alive until President Donald Trump is “replaced and... a new U.S. president [can] rejoin the deal.” This comes as Trump called former Secretary of State John Kerry “the father of the now terminated Iran deal” while taking aim at his speculated 2020 presidential run.