American writer and academic James Petras says the regime of US President Donald Trump has lost its most loyal European partners.
Petras, who has written dozens of books on international issues, made the comments in an interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting on a recent statement by British Prime Minister Theresa May who on Friday told Trump that the UK and its EU partners will remain “firmly committed” to the Iran nuclear deal.
“The prime minister reiterated the government’s position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld,” Downing Street announced in a statement following May's phone conversation with Trump.
Petras said, “I think this is a very important division between the US and the European Union such as we haven’t seen from its foundation. So this is a very significant political step and indicates that the Trump regime has lost its most loyal partners.”
“I think the main question that faces the world however is whether British, French and German companies are willing to defy US sanctions and continue their trade, investment with Iran,” he added.
“It’s one thing for their government to say that they will not abide by the agreement, the more fundamental question is what they will do protect their companies from suffering US fines, and US penalties for continuing their trade with Iran,” the analyst said.
“If the Europeans fail to secure the business of banking and trade then their declaration has no meaning and Iran will interpret the failure of European business to abide by their agreements as they are breaking of the accord,” he noted.
“So it’s not just governments’ declaration but governments’ ability to include the business aspects of their relations with Iran,” the scholar concluded.
On Tuesday, Trump declared that his country is pulling out of the Iran deal, saying Washington will not only reinstate the anti-Iran sanctions lifted as part of the deal, but will also “be instituting the highest level of economic” sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Under the deal, reached under Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.