Written by Peter Korzun; Originally appeared on strategic-culture.org
The US withdrawal from the Iran deal (JCPOA) has not buried it. That agreement is still very much alive. Even the US’s closest allies have refused to follow suit. The Iranian foreign minister is going on a trip just to save it. Tehran has the backing of all the signatories to the JCPOA, except America. That list includes Russia, China, and the EU, which keeps on trying to find an arrangement.
What the US did manage was to deal a heavy blow to trans-Atlantic solidarity. Washington set a six-month deadline for European companies doing business in Iran to get out. They’ll have to either terminate their operations or face heavy penalties. This means that the US has now become the main threat to Europe’s economy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed President Trump for his decision to pull out. The unofficial leader of Europe believes it “damages trust” in the global order. She is not alone. The UK and France have also admitted that they regret Trump’s move. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire stated that European powers should not be Washington’s “vassals.”
On May 11, the German chancellor discussed the situation with the Russian president in a phone conversation. There’ll be more talks on May 18 when Angela Merkel visits the Russian resort city of Sochi. In defiance of the US, Germany became the first EU country to begin the construction of its portion of the Nord Stream 2 gas project on May 3. It did so even before Sweden and Finland had agreed to permit the pipeline to pass through their territorial waters. The US is adamant in its opposition to Nord Stream 2. Washington does not shy away from twisting the arms of any allies who dare to see Russia’s stable and cheap energy supplies as an alternative to America’s more expensive liquefied gas that must be transported by sea.
The US-European relationship has been clouded by Washington’s plans to introduce tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the EU. The German chancellor has pointed out on a number of occasions that the US and EU have been clashing more frequently, which indicates that a wider schism is opening up within the Western alliance.
European leaders will discuss the US withdrawal from the Iran deal, as well as trade policy, at an EU summit that will be held June 28-29 in Bulgaria, at which the US is expected to face “a united European front.” Meanwhile, the EU is prepared to introduce countermeasures in response to the US-imposed punitive restrictions against European companies doing business with Iran. The idea has been floated of adopting an EU-wide blocking statute to nullify any US sanctions. A trade war is just around the corner. Can security interests coincide when economic ones differ so much? Not a chance.
The German chancellor believes that US global influence is on the wane and the time is ripe for Europe to stop relying on America’s military protection. Instead, it should “take its destiny into its own hands.” Some conflicts, such as a potential clash between Israel and Iran over Syria, may occur. Hostilities in the Middle East could trigger more streams of refugees into the Old Continent, but that’s a European headache. Why should Washington care?
Last month, Paris launched an initiative to set up a European intervention force in June that would operate independently of the EU’s current efforts. That would make it possible to include Great Britain, along with Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. So far too much of the EU initiatives has consisted of hot air. Significant strides have been made on paper but with too few results achieved in purely practical terms. Some EU tactical rapid-reaction units exist but they have never been deployed.
This time, Britain was quick to support the French initiative. In December, the EU created PESCO but it’s not clear if the UK would be a part of it after pulling out from the EU. London is seeking a security treaty with the bloc by 2019 — the Brexit deadline.
Meanwhile, EU High Representative Mogherini has announced her intention to submit for consideration by mid-June the new European Peace Facility that will streamline the EU’s funding of defence and military operations. Seventeen joint European defense-program projects are being pursued within the framework of PESCO.
The US openly humiliated Europe by making a unilateral decision on such an important security issue as the Iran deal and threatening its closest allies with trade sanctions. Europeans are being told which energy projects are best for them. And prior to that, Washington made a unilateral decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
Sooner or later anyone’s patience wears thin. Today Europe is being pushed toward countering the “America First” message with a “Europe First” policy. Angela Merkel has the right to adopt her own “Germany First” approach. It looks like the European locomotive is shifting tracks to head off in that new direction. Despite all the nice words about common values and so on, these two entities are gradually diverging to go their separate ways.
The united States is like a wounded animal and wounded animals are not always rational!
bye bye ameritards and israhell – two in one self annihilation mode right on track
Zio-Europe is dead.
Hope, you’re right. I’m not sure, which decision will be made by (independant) enterprises concerning trade volumes of $111 billion with US and about $2 billion with Iran.
Can America deal with the absence of those products.It goes both ways.
The EU is getting rid of the us influence in the region that Washington needs so hard to still be able destabelice Russia Wich also failed.
I agree with the above analysis that tectonic plates in the Atlantic seem to be diverging. Continental drift would indeed be welcome. Unfortunately, European business interests will in the end dictate how the M’s (Merkel, May and Macron) will eventually decide. Can’t you almost hear the grunting and groaning like a whisper on the wind, as the M’s eventually allow Potus, like Stormy, to have his way for a price….. Lol
Russia and China should establish observation posts in Palestine Gaza and West Bank.
There is complete news censor in the whole world of US gangsters brutality on Palestinians, Yemenis, Syrians, Libyans and Afghanis because the print and electronic media is controlled by Jews even in the all Muslim countries.
Don’t worry Russia and China both are in Syria and in Pakistan. They can go to Palestine and can stop Israeli migrant terrorists from butchering Palestinians and stealing their lands.
If Houthis succeeded in convincing Russia and China to establish observation posts in Yemen then this will be a winning turning point for Houthis.
As long as that zio-neocon Macron is there, US/Israel will not let go of the leash on Europe.hope ı am wrong.
This reminds me of the confident predictions “Russia won’t back down” prior to last month’s US missile strikes on Syria. On what could you base the confidence “this time will be different” when there’s just no precedent for that? Merkel and Macron work for the Dark Throne; just recently with the Skripal affair they’ve shown that they’ll go along with pretty much any idiocy imposed on them; the idea that Britain could even articulate a foreign policy independent of His Master’s Voice is too silly for consideration. For now there’s some posturing, so that they can say “but Trump made us do it” when yet again Europe’s interest will be sacrificed for the US-Israeli axis.
To get any traction in standing up to the US, indeed you’d need to coordinate with Russia. So many problems with that: Merkel herself is a steadfast champion of confrontation with Russia, the German voters didn’t rid themselves of her, Polish/Baltic retards will block any change in the EU, etc. Not to mention that Russia itself is looking very feeble these days under relentless US pressure, and losing allies rather than gaining them.
Who have created UN, UNSC, IMF and World Bank? The Jews (i.e. US, UK, French gangsters) the enemies of Muslims to control the whole world. So how UN can do justice. The nations of Middle East, Asia and Africa still looking to UN for justice or for defense. They don’t know about US sanctions that cripple the economies of poor nations. The US sanctions are economic terrorism. Does any country have slammed the US sanctions or economic terrorism? No.
Why nations so much take care of America. Russia and China should adopt policies that the BRICS and SCO members states should have to be immune to US sanctions.
The Europeans will back down, they always back down.
It’s an economic cost-benefit calculation for EU, and a matter of time when they switch to Eastern growth and prosperity investments, by China’s silk way.
Jewish-American wars are destructive and create poverty and massive immigration.