Europe may regret trying to undercut US sanctions against Iran

Washington Free Beacon:

European countries are currently examining a range of options to counter the reimposition of harsh U.S. sanctions on Iran in a bid to continue doing business with the Islamic Republic, a move that is being met with chilly reception on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are already putting in place measures to ensure that any European nation caught skirting U.S. sanctions faces harsh repercussions, according to a new policy paper being examined by lawmakers and viewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

Ahead of a landmark foreign policy speech on Iran Monday morning by newly installed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his first since taking the office, European nations have been locked in meetings to develop contingencies to continue doing business with Iran after new U.S. sanctions go into effect in the coming months.

European Union members are seeking to reimpliment an old law known as the blocking statute, which orders European companies to ignore U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The move sets up a showdown between the United States and Europe over the future of business dealings with Iran in the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to walk away from the landmark nuclear deal and reimpose wide-ranging and severe sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Iran opponents on Capitol Hill are already moving to respond, according to multiple sources who shared with the Free Beacon a newly developed policy memo that maps a plan for the United States to potentially sanction the European Investment Bank, or EIB, and cut its access to the U.S. financial system. The policy paper was written by Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"There is no statute that can save a European company from losing its access to the U.S. financial system," the policy memo states. "European companies will not be willing to violate U.S. sanctions even with the revival of the blocking statute."

European companies will be forced to make a choice between doing business with Iran and retaining access to the U.S. financial system.
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The Europeans seem to have this notion that Iran is not a threat to them too, but they are already in range of some of Iran's new missiles which are designed to carry the nukes that will be available in a few years if they continue to abide by the deal Obama and Kerry cut.  They continue to be as foolish as Obama and Kerry were in agreeing to the deal in the first place.