Nuclear Deal with Iran May Hinge On European Sanctions Relief
Al-Monitor's Barbara Slavin reports that progress with Iran in upcoming nuclear talks might require Europeans to ease their embargo on purchasing Iranian oil.
Progress with Iran in upcoming nuclear talks might require Europeans to ease their embargo on purchasing Iranian oil, experts on sanctions say.
The United States has accumulated such a complex variety of sanctions on Iran over the past three decades that it will be far more difficult to roll back American penalties against the Islamic Republic.
“The first thing they would do is ask the Europeans,” said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, when asked what the Obama administration would do if Iran agrees to curb its uranium enrichment program. “The Iranians want some public backing off and under [US] sanctions, that would be very difficult.”
Reinsch, a former Commerce Department undersecretary and senior staffer on Capitol Hill, was among nearly 40 prominent former US officials to endorse a new study, “Weighing the Costs and Benefits of International Sanctions on Iran.”
