US browbeats EU amid push for non-dollar Iran trade

The US is arm-twisting the Europeans over their bid to bypass new American sanctions on Iran, pressing Europe to impose its own sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to meet his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday in order to make a case for tough new sanctions on Tehran.

US special envoy for Iran Brian Hook is reportedly traveling with Pompeo. He has said that the talks with the Europeans would be about Iran’s missile capabilities.

Pompeo reportedly met the usurper Zionist regime of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Monday night, mainly to discuss Iran.

The top US diplomat reaffirmed the strength of US-Israel alliance and reiterated America’s resolve in confronting Iran through maximum pressure during a dinner with the Israeli leader, Voice of America reported.

The meetings are the latest salvo in an escalating US campaign against Iran since President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May and re-imposed all sanctions lifted on Tehran under the agreement.

On Saturday, in repetition of unfounded allegations, Pompeo claimed that Iran had tested a medium-range ballistic missile which violated the international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program. Iran rejected his claims that it "violates UNSCR 2231" – a United Nations Security Council resolution which endorses the international nuclear agreement abandoned by the US in May.
Washington’s new push to pressure Iran comes as the European Union is trying to set up a clearing house for non-dollar transactions with the Islamic Republic without falling foul of the US sanctions.

EA