UANI Senior Advisor August Hanning Calls For Reinstatement Of European Sanctions Against Iran

(New York, N.Y.) – As world leaders, military chiefs and diplomats converge on Munich for the annual Security Conference, Europe’s leaders would do well to consider the long-term security implications of their continued support for the Iran nuclear deal.

Since the deal was signed in 2015, the Islamic Republic has embraced neither the spirit nor the law of the Iran nuclear deal, reneging on its pledges under the deal, while continuing to spread terror and instability across the Middle East.

Far from containing the regime’s regional ambitions, the deal has provided the Islamic Republic with a cloak of respectability, under cover of which it has forged for itself a corridor of power stretching from Tehran through Iraq and into Syria. The presence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the Mediterranean coast threatens to further destabilize a region already convulsed in civil war and strife. Furthermore, undeterred by international watchdogs such as the FATF, Iran has accelerated its strategy of terror financing, using Hezbollah and other proxies as instruments of chaos in Lebanon, Yemen and beyond.

By continuing to support a deal that will never be fulfilled or respected by Iran, Europe is jeopardizing the security of its citizens as well as those of the Middle East. This indifference will, very soon, inadvertently hand a great victory to Iran. The provisions of the Iran nuclear deal will shortly expire, and in October 2020 the regime will once again regain access to the international conventional arms market. Europe is playing a dangerous game of appeasement with a nation that will soon have new battle tanks, warships and combat aircraft at its disposal, as well as the ability to export these weapons to its insidious allies. 

August Hanning, Senior Advisor to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) said: “European leaders are at a crossroads, with two distinct paths in front of them. The choice is between security and safety for their citizens, or to stay on the road they are on, which must surely lead to greater instability in the Middle East and ultimately on Europe’s borders. With its Presidency starting in the summer, Germany should advocate for Europe to move forward and take affirmative action against Iran by reinstating the UN sanctions. The only other option is to continue to cling to a failed deal that Iran blatantly ignores. The choice is clear: a path of safety, or a path of apathy.”

To read The Iran Nuclear Deal: What's Wrong With It And What Can We Do Now?, please click here.

To read JCPOA Sunset Alert, please click here.

To read Next Steps in the Maximum Pressure Campaign, please click here.

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