Iran approached JCPOA as a good faith; Irish politician
"Iran approached the JCPOA as a good faith interlocutor, but was blindsided by the caprice of the United States and, in the case of Europe's failure to fulfill its economic commitments, the subservience of the EU and its member states to the United States," a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) told ILNA.
Clare Daly in an exculsive interview with ILNA news agency confirmed that it needs to be stated baldly: the party that first violated the terms of the JCPOA was the United States, by unilaterally withdrawing – a decision taken under a US regime that even the political mainstream in Europe accepts was irrational and unpredictable.
"Iran's responses to this were within the terms of the agreement - they were determined by the diplomatic logic of the situation - and it is monumental bad faith for US interlocutors to claim otherwise, or to project blame for the failure of the process on Iran."
The Irish politician added "The ensuing sanctions thoroughly violate the letter and the spirit of the agreement. Tough talk from the United States about forcing Iran back into "compliance" cannot be taken seriously in light of whom it was who trounced the agreement in the first place."
"It is in the interests of all parties to secure a peaceful and nuclear-free region, but this cannot be brought about by ignoring the legitimate security concerns and energy interests of one of the parties, or behaving as if commitments made yesterday can be forgotten about today whenever it is convenient," Daly said.
"High handed diktats and refusal to acknowledge past mistakes on the part of the United States are therefore significant impediments to the revival of the JCPOA, as are the introduction of new sanctions and the lack of any consequences for Israel in its efforts to escalate conflict and scupper talks."
The member of the European Parliament believes that it is simply unacceptable, under these circumstances, for European parties to attempt to exploit the Trump administration's derailment of the process at Iran's expense.
"It should be otherwise, but I regret to say that on the evidence there is little political will in foreign policy circles in Europe to address the danger of increasing insecurity in the region, and the deep burden of illegal and devastating sanctions on the people of Iran," she said.
The Irish politician added "The reality is that European companies are too integrated into a US-dominated capitalist system, and are therefore at the mercy of US sanctions. While it has made legal efforts to address this, Europe has no de facto leverage over this."
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