Why Europe's efforts to change the Iranian regime's behavior constantly fail
Europe’s “special purpose vehicle” After the current U.S. administration pulled out of the flawed Iran nuclear deal, the European Union promised to the ruling theocracy in Iran to create a Special Purpose Vehicle to circumvent U.S. sanctions and allow the Iranian regime to continue selling its oil without repercussions. But while the end-2018 deadline for setting up the clearinghouse-like mechanism, has already passed, no European initiative has appeared on the horizon. Meanwhile, some European officials did their best to express their commitment to the Iran deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In her personal blog, EU’s high representative for foreign relations and security policy Federica Mogherini published an article titled “Twelve things to bring with us in 2019” and described her efforts to rescue the deal by creating “a mechanism to let our [European] firms continue their legitimate business with Iran.” While the staunch su...