Europe Tries to Sidestep the U.S. Finance System
The vehicle being touted as a way to get around Trump’s Iran sanctions has faced plenty of skepticism. But it’s serving a political purpose already.
Europe has a very complicated idea for getting around U.S. sanctions on Iran. It's not hopeless.
Photographer: Ali Mohammadi/BloombergThe standoff between the Trump administration and Iran is escalating, and Europe is caught in the middle. The U.S. is exerting pressure through renewed economic sanctions, and hardliners in Tehran are issuing fiery threats of retaliation.
Brussels and national governments in the U.K., France and Germany, meanwhile, have been criticized by both sides for promising to preserve trade with Iran while also treading softly with the Americans to avoid a full-blown diplomatic crisis. Europeans “speak eloquently,” Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in February. “They also need to walk the walk.”