Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is in Europe to meet the leaders of Austria and Switzerland in a bid to save the international nuclear deal that has been abandoned by the U.S.
However, trying to do so could cause a “very messy dispute” between the U.S. and Europe, according to one expert.
“The U.S. will increase non-nuclear pressure on Iran, the European banks and businesses will side with Washington while European politicians will try to create or carve cutouts to the international sanctions architecture, and all this makes for a very messy dispute for the U.S. and its allies,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a research fellow at Washington-based think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” Tuesday.
President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in May and is reinstating sanctions on Iran after he had criticized the accord and said the country did not abide by its conditions. European nations Germany, the U.K. and France, who brokered the Iranian nuclear deal with China and Russia in 2015, have said they are committed to the deal. However, European businesses and financial institutions could be punished via so-called secondary sanctions if they do business with Iranian individuals or entities once U.S. restrictions snap back in August and then in November.
Rouhani said he hopes European nations will come up with a package to save the nuclear deal soon. He met his Swiss counterpart, Alain Berset, on Monday with the Swiss president affirming his support for the agreement, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Reference: CNBC
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