Europe Hearts Terrorism

British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbin is hosting a party confab this week. Given that Corbin has been exposed as a notable anti-Semite, we note that the assembled party members, shameless to a fault, are waving the Palestinian flag.

Corbin himself has declared that within a year he will be Britain’s Prime Minister. If you were wondering where once-Great Britain is going to stand in the world’s geopolitics, you now have an indication.

Other Western European nations, in deepest chagrin over the damage that the Trump administration is doing to the Iranian economy, are now trying to circumvent economic sanctions in order to save Obama’s Iran deal and to stick a finger in the eye of the Trump administration.

Again, if you were wondering which side these nations are on, the evidence is becoming clear. The next time someone starts whining about how the Trump administration is mistreating our closest European allies, you can point out that these countries are not acting like allies. In truth, our closest European allies are in Eastern Europe. If you miss that you have missed what is going on in today’s geopolitics.

In truth, the new Italian government has taken a hard line on immigration. Nevertheless, the European foreign minister, one Federika Mogherini has made herself and Europe look weak, cowardly and pathetic. She has been trying to save the nuclear deal and to save Iran.

The story comes from the Wall Street Journal, via Daily Wire and Maggie’s Farm.

The European Union’s announcement that it would establish a special payments channel to maintain economic ties with Iran sent a clear message to Tehran and Washington: Europe is intent on trying to save the 2015 nuclear deal.

The special-payment channel is intended to bolster those in Iran arguing Tehran should keep honoring the deal’s terms. Iranian officials have been warning for months they would follow the Trump administration in quitting the agreement if the economic benefits of the 2015 deal stop flowing.

Under the agreement announced Monday by EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, the bloc agreed with other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal that it would set up a legal entity “to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran and this will allow European companies to continue trade with Iran.” The special purpose vehicle would be open to all other countries to participate, including Russia and China, who helped negotiate the agreement.

At a time when more and more European companies are pulling away from Iran, we see that someone still wants to submit to the ayatollahs. It might complicate American diplomacy, but it is not likely to work.

The Journal story continues:

Yet most sanctions experts said Tuesday that it would do little to blunt U.S. economic pressure on the Iranian regime and wouldn’t prevent European companies abandoning Iranian oil imports, underscoring the constraints the EU faces in trying to stop the U.S. from sinking the deal.

And also:

The establishment of a euro-denominated payments system is aimed at allowing companies to send and receive money from Iran. With no links to the U.S. financial system, the idea is, the payment system would be protected from the main U.S. sanctions threat—disconnecting a firm from U.S. markets. European officials were also looking at a barter system that would allow Iran to sell oil, for example to China, and use the proceeds from that sale to purchase goods or technology from Europe.

Even without full details, however, sanctions experts on both sides of the debate on the 2015 deal, said any new mechanism would remain vulnerable to U.S. sanctions, which could ensnare the individuals setting it up and companies taking part. They also doubted Ms. Mogherini’s claim that the new instrument could ease European oil imports, a key target of the renewed U.S. penalties.

“U.S. sanctions apply to every company and person involved in the SPV, including the banks and companies involved in the transaction,” said Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank supporting tougher sanctions on Iran. “The U.S. government will identify and sanction anyone holding dollar-based assets, doing business with U.S. firms, or traveling to the U.S.”

So, it’s an empty gesture, designed to coddle the Iranians. Like John Kerry, Mogherini wants Iran to know that it need but wait out the Trump administration. Eventually, a return to more cowardly governance will restore the nuclear deal and allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.