Europe Ignores Crackdown on Iranian Protestors, Expands Membership of Sanctions Busting Trade Mechanism

(New York, N.Y.) – United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace said the following today in response to the announcement that Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden will join Germany, France, and the United Kingdom as shareholders in the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX). INSTEX was established to circumvent the U.S. economic sanctions against trade with Iran.

“Within days of the most massive and brutal crackdown in the Iranian regime’s 40-year history, when at least 208 Iranians have been slaughtered and up to 7,000 peaceful protestors arrested, six of Europe’s most storied democracies have chosen to see-no-evil and instead to support the butchers of Tehran against the U.S.

“This European response to atrocities committed by the Iranian regime is difficult to comprehend. The European Union’s current Action Plan reaffirms its ‘commitment to protect human rights and to support democracy worldwide.’ However, rather than consider firmly responding to the Iranian regime’s grave human rights abuses, the leaders of six European nations instead chose to reward the mullahs by becoming shareholders in a vehicle for sanctions evasion. They even shamefully heralded the event with a press release. The inconsistency between the European Union's Action Plan and the actions of the six European countries is shockingly hypocritical.

“As NATO prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary this week, European leaders should stop and reflect on the common values that have defined the transatlantic alliance. Supporting a brutal, broken, and bankrupt Iranian regime isn’t one of them. The latest anti-democratic actions emanating from Tehran cannot be ignored or excused. It is time for Europe to recognize that the Iran nuclear deal is past the point of saving, and stop humiliating itself by continuing to stand with the dictatorial Iranian regime, rather than the people of Iran.”

To read UANI’s analysis of the protests in Iran and the elements of a potential unified diplomatic approach to Tehran’s domestic and foreign aggression, please click here.

To read UANI’s analysis of how Iran figures into the summit of NATO Leaders, the Annual OPEC Meeting, and the gathering of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) this week, please click here.