Iran-Europe faceoff flaring up: Expert

“We can say that Iran-Europe relations have become tense over the almost past year as a result of a series of events and developments,” said Ardeshir Sanaee of the consequences of the crisis in Tehran-Europe ties.

“Over the past 43 years, the Europeans’ logic in dealing with Iran has been based on the premise that they should avoid isolating Iran,” he said in an interview with the Entekhab website.

“Unlike the US, the Europeans have been of the conviction that if they isolate Iran, the country’s behavior and moves will become extreme and radical, in which case it would be impossible to control Iran’s behavior,” the expert explained.

“Therefore, from both a political and economic point of view, Europe has always opted to be able to have cooperation and interaction with Iran,” he noted.

“Over the past year, a series of events happened and resulted in a change of course, and now we can practically speak of a faceoff between Iran and Europe,” he said.

“This showdown could drag into tensions and more complicated phases,” said the expert.

“The first event could be the failure to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
,” said the expert.

Another event that strained Iran-Europe ties, he said, was Russia’s military attack on Ukraine and the alleged sales of Iranian drones to Moscow.

Yet another development was the protests that erupted in Iran in late summer, 2022, the expert underlined.

“As for the nuclear case, the way forward seems to be the path of negotiations and making efforts to revive the JCPOA,” said the expert.

“With regards to the Russia-Ukraine war, we should give it some thought and decide how to get out of the predicament that we ourselves have got us into,” he noted.

Of protests in the country subside, it could ease the pressure exerted by the world public opinion and Iranian expats on European governments, said the expert.