The following is an op-ed from a third party and does not necessarily represent the views of The DEFCON Warning System
One could not be faulted for assuming that the leaders of a self-defined progressive continent, on which the worst genocide in modern history was perpetrated only decades ago, would be more predisposed to siding with the United States, the world’s foremost purveyor and guarantor of freedom, than with Iran, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism which repeatedly has vowed to finish off Hitler’s work by eradicating the lone Jewish state.
But one would nevertheless be wrong.
On Monday, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, in conjunction with the top diplomats of Britain, France and, for that matter, Germany, released a joint statement expressing “deep regret” over the re-imposition of American sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
“We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran,” the politicians wrote. “This is why the European Union’s updated Blocking Statute enters into force on 7 August to protect EU companies…from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions.”
The “blocking statute”—a law enacted in one jurisdiction to obstruct the application of a law enacted in another jurisdiction—essentially prohibits EU firms from complying with US sanctions and provides mechanisms that allow businesses to recover any resulting damages while negating potential foreign court rulings against them.
For good measure, the EU committed to the “preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas.”
The EU transformed itself into an Iranian tool after the Trump administration rejected its calls to receive exemptions from the new financial penalties; which, in turn, followed months of EU groveling to Tehran in the form of a “negotiating process” aimed at devising a sufficiently large bribe to entice the Islamic Republic to remain in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
