US Ambassador: Europe's Special Mechanism to Preserve JCPOA Will Not Work

Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union, stated on Wednesday, October 17, that the special mechanism established by European countries to maintain the nuclear agreement with Iran, known as the JCPOA, will not be effective because international companies and institutions will not cooperate with it. In an interview with Euronews, Sondland expressed disagreement with the EU's approach towards Iran and its efforts to preserve the JCPOA. He said, 'The special mechanism that is supposed to be implemented to circumvent US sanctions will not work for a simple reason: most companies will not use this mechanism. They face a choice. They can trade with the US. They can trade with Iran through this mechanism. But they cannot trade with both countries simultaneously.' He added that many companies have made the right decision so far. Following the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran, known as the JCPOA, and the re-imposition of sanctions, major European companies left Iran. US oil sanctions against Iran are set to begin on November 5. Meanwhile, the remaining five countries in the JCPOA and Iran announced on September 24 the establishment of a special mechanism to bypass US sanctions and preserve the nuclear agreement. This mechanism is expected to facilitate trade and financial transactions with Tehran amid the implementation of US sanctions against Iran. The establishment of a 'special financial institution' for continued trade with Iran after the return of Washington's economic sanctions had been previously proposed. Since the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran, the value of Iran's national currency has sharply declined against various foreign currencies. Brian Hook, the head of the US State Department's Iran Action Group, also told Euronews regarding the impact of US sanctions on the people that 'the Iranian regime is responsible for this suffering, not US sanctions. This is a narrative that the Iranian regime wants you to believe, but there is no reason for it. This only allows the regime to shift the blame for 39 years of corruption, mismanagement, and violent adventures in the Middle East and beyond onto others.' He added, 'The longest suffering victims of the Iranian regime are the Iranian people. This religious dictatorship has been plundering its own people through deception for 39 years. Right now, protests are taking place in dozens of cities in Iran, with teachers and truck drivers on strike.' Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman described US sanctions as 'a blatant insult by the United States to legal and international mechanisms and stemming from the blind hatred of the US government towards the Iranian people.' The US is seeking negotiations regarding the future of Iran's nuclear program after the JCPOA, its missile program, and Iran's regional activities. However, Iranian officials state that Tehran will not negotiate at all regarding the JCPOA and its missile program.