‘EU lacks political will to stand up to US pressure on Iran’

The European Union’s fresh sanctions against Iran prove that the customs union cannot be trusted, and lacks the political will to stand up to Washington’s pressure on the Islamic Republic, says an analyst.

On Tuesday, the European Union froze the assets of an Iranian intelligence unit as well as two of its staff members over terror charges. This is the first time the EU has imposed sanctions on Iran since lifting an array of embargoes following Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers — officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“This is another reminder to the Iranians that Europeans cannot be trusted; they do not have the political will to stand up to the United States; and they are failing unfortunately this very important litmus test on their own political and diplomatic sovereignty,” Kaveh Afrasiabi told Press TV in an interview on Wednesday.

The provocative move by the European bloc follows last year’s statements by Denmark and France that they suspected a so-called Iranian government intelligence unit pursued killing plots on their territories. Copenhagen at the time sought an EU-wide response.

“There is clearly a very concerted effort by the American administration to pressure Europe to toe the American line on Iran and to stop what appears to be a European weakly response to the American unilateral exit from the JCPOA. So the terrorism angle has become the venue by which the US is pulling Europe away from Iran in order to legitimize its effort because so far the United States has been isolated on its exit from the JCPOA,” he added.

Tehran has denied any involvement in the purported plots, saying the accusations are merely intended to damage its relations with the EU. Iran also stresses that it is a victim of terrorism, particularly inflicted by the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization terrorist group, whose members live freely in EU countries.