Europeans see the light on Iran

Britain, France and Germany have shown scant regard for the West’s strategic interests by taking so long to recognise Iran’s flagrant breaches of the commitments it made under Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal. Having finally done so by triggering the agreement’s dispute resolution mechanism, the three European cosignatories should waste no time ensuring Tehran faces the consequences of its decision to suspend all limits on centrifuge installation and the production of enriched uranium.

The three nations should have supported Donald Trump when he pulled the US out of the deeply flawed Obama deal in 2018. Instead they have sat on the sidelines, reiterating their backing for the deal despite Tehran’s serial terrorist aggression across the Middle East, its threats to annihilate Israel and its abysmal human rights record. As the Iranian economy was devastated by Mr Trump’s gradual reimposition of sanctions that have terminated 90 per cent of its oil exports, the ruling ayatollahs were sustained and comforted by the European nations’ dogged unwillingness to join in the action against them.

Even now, in triggering the dispute process, London, Paris and Berlin have reiterated that they remain opposed to Mr Trump’s withdrawal from the deal and do not want to join his campaign of “maximum pressure” to cripple Iran economically. “Our hope is to bring Iran back into full compliance (with the terms of the deal),” they said.

Their optimism is naive and misplaced. Iran is becoming ever more delinquent, not only in resuming enriched uranium production but also in its unrelenting aggression in using terrorist proxies to target Israel and other countries across the region. If unresolved, which seems likely, the dispute triggered by the European nations will end up in the UN Security Council, where Russia and China will be likely to veto the reimposition of sanctions. That would be the last thing the situation needs. As the Europeans have at last accepted that Tehran is in breach of the terms of the Obama deal, they should stop vacillating and help the US bring added pressure on Iran.