So the Iranians might as well make these demands. Why not? They’re going to build a bomb, deal or no deal, so why not hold other nations hostage in exchange for the illusion that they’ve abandoned their nuclear ambitions?

Europeans offer Iran ‘package’ to compensate for U.S. sanctions; mad mullahs say it’s not enough

By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--July 8, 2018

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Europeans offer Iran ‘package’ to compensate for U.S. sanctions; mad mullahs say it’s not enough

Remember the chortling over President Trump’s decision to exit the Iran nuclear deal? It was at once the end of the world and also a complete joke, because the deal was made with five other countries and they would all stay in the deal even if the U.S. left. The U.S. could make no impact by reimposing sanctions, we were told, and Iran would simply do business with the Europeans while leaving the U.S. out of it. We’d make no impact and we’d be the losers! The deal could not be taken apart!

Yeah, about that:

World powers and Iran appeared to make no concrete breakthrough on Friday in talks to provide Tehran with an economic package to compensate for U.S. sanctions that begin taking effect in August. Ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia met their Iranian counterpart in Vienna for the first time since U.S. President Donald Trump left a nuclear accord in May, but diplomats had seen limited scope for salvaging it. Trump pulled the United States out of the multinational deal under which sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear program verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Washington has since told countries they must stop buying the OPEC producer’s oil from Nov. 4 or face financial consequences. Speaking after three hours of talks, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who chaired the talks, read a statement from the six delegations repeating previously-announced broad priorities ranging from guaranteeing Iranian oil revenue to shipping ties, banking and all other trade and investment co-operation. “Participants agreed to keep progress under close review and to reconvene the joint commission, including at ministerial level, as appropriate in order to advance common efforts,” Mogherini said, adding that all sides were determined to find and implement solutions.

Unlike at past meetings, Mogherini took no questions. “All the commitments made today , should be implemented before the August deadline … it is up to the leadership in Tehran to decide whether Iran should remain in the deal … the proposal was not precise and a complete one,” Mohammed Javad Zarif told reporters. Speaking earlier in the day, France’s foreign minister said that world powers would struggle to keep to that deadline. “They (Iran) must stop threatening to break their commitments to the nuclear deal,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

Iran wants the Europeans to essentially make them whole from the newly reimposed U.S. sanctions, meaning they want the Europeans to go the extra mile to ensure Iran will feel no economic ill-effects from the U.S. actions. That is tricky for the Europeans because new U.S. sanctions will likely include penalties on other nations who try to get around the sanctions to do business with Iran. But the mad mullahs appear to believe they have leverage, and they’re playing hardball – telling the Europeans that what they’re offering isn’t enough and that Iran will leave the deal if the pot isn’t sweetened.

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The real question is why these other nations are so desperate to save this deal, unless it’s just to show everyone that Donald Trump can’t tell them what to do. They know well that the deal’s enforcement provisions are so weak there is no plausible way it can really ensure Iran doesn’t develop a nuclear weapon. They also know fully well that Benjamin Netanyahu has already gone public with evidence of Iran’s cheating right under their noses. This deal was a classic case of a bunch of people wanting to be able to wave a piece of paper and claim to have accomplished something, when in fact they had done nothing but produce a piece of paper. Iran is going to get a nuclear weapon unless someone takes military action to stop it, and in all likelihood it will be Israel that does so because a) Israel would be the most likely target of a nuclear attack by Iran; and b) no other nation in the world appears to have the guts to do it. So the Iranians might as well make these demands. Why not? They’re going to build a bomb, deal or no deal, so why not hold other nations hostage in exchange for the illusion that they’ve abandoned their nuclear ambitions? There’s one born every minute.

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Dan Calabrese——Bio and Archives

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

Follow all of Dan’s work, including his series of Christian spiritual warfare novels, by liking his page on Facebook.

So the Iranians might as well make these demands. Why not? They’re going to build a bomb, deal or no deal, so why not hold other nations hostage in exchange for the illusion that they’ve abandoned their nuclear ambitions?

Europeans offer Iran ‘package’ to compensate for U.S. sanctions; mad mullahs say it’s not enough

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