US tells Europe that bartering with Iran for oil would violate sanctions

Washington Examiner:

American officials have issued a warning to European nations that they risk falling foul of sanctions on Iran if they press ahead with a barter system that could allow the export of Iranian oil.

Last week, Russia signaled it was interested in joining the mechanism, known as Instex, as part of an effort to resuscitate a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by President Trump last year.

The U.S. has said using the channel for food and medicine would not breach sanctions.

But a recent announcement that European ministers were considering extending it to oil risks undermining Washington’s strategy of “maximum pressure.”

A senior administration official told the Washington Examiner that the Treasury Department wrote to the board of Instex and “communicated exactly our displeasure at the creation of an instrument that, on its face, seems to foster the evasion of sanctions and the danger associated with that and reminded them what was and was not sanctionable.”

The United Kingdom, France, and Germany are intent on shoring up what is left of the 2015 accord, despite the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran exceeded the amount and purity of uranium it is allowed under the agreement.
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Boris Johnson the recently sworn-in Prime Minister of Britain has indicated he is likely to abandon the Iran deal.   The rest of Europe needs to wise up to the evils of Iranian leaders.  It is also not surprising that the Russians would side with that regime.