MEP says EU must resist US bullying, adopt independent stance on sanctions by ‘a lawless state’

A member of the European Parliament (MEP) says the EU must resist US bullying and take an independent stance on sanctions Washington imposes on other countries, including Iran and Syria.

In an interview with Press TV on Thursday, independent member of the Irish parliament Mick Wallace made the remarks when asked about a new round of US sanctions on Iran, stressing that most US measures are illegal and against international law, whether they are on Iran, Venezuela, Syria, or Nicaragua.

The administration of US President Donald Trump reportedly plans to impose additional sanctions on Iran’s financial sector that will block the few remaining avenues of legal financial exchange with Tehran.

Washington uses what it calls “secondary sanctions” to pressure third parties into stopping their activities with the sanctioned country. In a report published last month, Bloomberg said that the fresh US measure would target more than a dozen banks and label Iran’s entire financial sector off-limits.

“The European Union and countries within the European Union have a genuine desire to have better relations with Iran,” Wallace said, adding, however, that their submission to Washington “has shown them to be weak and have failed to stand up to US bullying.”

He also stressed that during the past twenty years or so the US has increasingly shown “less and less respect for international law.”

US to impose new financial sanctions against Iran: Trump administration officials

The administration of US President Donald Trump reportedly plans to announce new sanctions on Iran’s financial sector.

The Ireland South MEP further said that Europe has had a historic transatlantic link with the US. However, Washington has got so bad that a point has reached when the EU has to make a decisive decision.

Are the member states of the EU “going to be dictated to by a lawless state like the US, or are they going to develop an independent position and act in a manner which is more compatible with international law?” Wallace asked.

He also noted that American presidents and those running for president have always engaged in saber-rattling, adding that Iran remains in the focus of Washington because of “Israel's obsession with Iran.”

Since almost all aspects of life are already effectively under the most aggressive US sanctions ever, the new measures are unlikely to have any meaningful bearing on Iran’s economy and seem mostly a political stunt ahead of the US election.

The proposal is an escalation of Washington’s futile bid to force Iran into new negotiations over its nuclear program, two years after Trump withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 deal with Tehran – technically known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - and reimposed sweeping sanctions.

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