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Bid to Bypass American Sanctions on Iran Met With Wariness in Europe

Jamie Dettmer

   The effort by European countries to craft a workaround for businesses
   to bypass reimposed U.S. sanctions on Iran is unlikely to be
   successful, say diplomats and analysts, and has been made more
   difficult by Tehran's breaching of an internationally-agreed cap on its
   Uranium stockpile.

   The financial mechanism crafted by European signatories to the Iran
   nuclear deal, co-signed by President Donald Trump's predecessor, Barack
   Obama, in which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for
   sanctions relief, won't compensate Iran sufficiently, even if it gets
   working, for the loss of trade and oil sales, they say.

   President Trump withdrew the U.S. last year from the agreement, citing
   concerns that Tehran had done nothing to curtail expansionist behavior
   in the region and was still determined to eventually build nuclear
   weapons.

   Difficult to get around US sanctions

   The bid to bypass the strict American sanctions on Iran, which
   effectively prevents Iran from accessing Western financial markets, has
   been met with skepticism by many European businesses. That doubt is
   likely to mount now that Iran has breached the limit on its Uranium
   stockpile stipulated by the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive
   Plan of Action (JCPOA).

   The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog,
   confirmed Monday that Iran has deliberately breached the JCPOA 300kg
   limit on its enriched Uranium stockpile. Tehran announced last month
   that it would start exceeding the cap in protest at reimposed U.S.
   sanctions and as a way to persuade the Europeans to do much more to
   ease the impact of the sanctions on the Iranian economy.

   Iranian officials have also warned that they intend to start enriching
   Uranium to a higher purity of 20 percent by July 7, still short of
   weapons-grade quality, which is 90 percent.

   Fear of angering Trump

   European businesses were wary enough before the stockpile breach,
   fearing that if they continue to trade with Iran they will fall afoul
   of the Trump administration, which has warned it will punish companies
   attempting to skirt U.S. sanctions. The threat itself has been enough
   to scare off many businesses, according to trade consultants.

   That point was noted to reporters Friday in London by Brian Hook, the
   U.S. special representative for Iran.