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European governments have so far failed to convince the Trump administration to guarantee Iranian imports of staple foods and medicines after the imposition of general sanctions the week next, according to diplomats familiar with the negotiations.
Sanctions – on oil, shipping and banks, lifted after Iran agreed to severely limit its nuclear program in 2015 – to be reimposed Monday 6 months after the release of Donald Trump of the nuclear agreement , with over 700 new banks and companies, with individuals and vessels added to existing blacklists.
Humanitarian supplies are officially exempt from sanctions, but in the past, banks and foreign companies risk-averse avoided any dealings with Iran, fearing to be penalized, resulting in severe shortages of drugs and staple foods in the years leading up to the 2015 agreement.
"There is no doubt that the lives of thousands of patients will be in danger," Ahmad Ghavideh, a member of the Iranian Hemophilia Society, told The Guardian by phone from Tehran.
"Any delay in the supply of drugs, especially in the area where I work, will have catastrophic consequences," said the NGO official. "I do not worry for today, but in six months, when our stock will be exhausted. They say that drug imports are exempt from sanctions, but in practice, because of banking restrictions, we do not have access to the drugs and ingredients needed to manufacture them internally. "
The British, French and German ambbadadors to the United States – the three countries are co-signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement – made joint visits to the Treasury and state departments in September to persuade the Administration to produce a 'whitelist'. This would give clear guidance on the channels that banks and European companies should follow to conduct legitimate transactions with Iran without fear of future penalties.
"We are waiting for our American friends to do humanitarian work," said French Ambbadador to France Gérard Araud this week. "Of course, humanitarian goods are not punished. But the fact is that the banks are so terrified by the sanctions that they do not want to do anything with Iran. This means that in a few months, there will be a high risk of drug shortages in Iran if we do nothing positive. "
Araud said that it was not enough to exempt humanitarian goods from the list of sanctions. "You really have to be more positive and say how to do it. If you do not say how, the banks will not do it. So we are waiting for a technical answer, "said the ambbadador at the Hudson Institute think tank.
Asked about the response of the administration, Araud said: "Regarding humanitarian issues, we have not yet received a response."
"Any idea of a whitelist is frowned upon by the administration," said another European diplomat.
The entrance to Bank Melli Iran branch in Hamburg, Germany. "Banks do not trust the Iranian banking system," said a Trump official. Photography: Mauritz Antin / EPA
On Friday, the State Department's special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, who had met with European ambbadadors in September, seemed to rule out making special arrangements for humanitarian goods, beyond the rule of law. A formal exemption from penalties.
"It's not up to the US to identify safe channels," Hook told reporters. "We have done our part to allow the sale of humanitarian goods to Iran. That's our part. That's our role. Iran has a role to play in making these transactions possible. Banks do not trust the Iranian banking system … This is the problem of Iran; it is not our problem. "
The three European parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, known as the Joint Global Action Plan (JCPOA), strongly oppose the decision of the European Union. Trump administration to violate it and seek to protect European companies doing business with Iran from US sanctions by creating "special vehicle" that would constitute a channel for trading in euros.
Federica Mogherini, EU's foreign policy chief, on Friday issued a joint statement with the British, French and German Foreign Ministers, stating that they "deeply regretted" the re-imposition of US sanctions and would continue to seek ways to maintain legitimate trade with Iran.
"Our collective desire to complete this work is unshakable," the statement added.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that he did not think that the European effort to bypbad US sanctions would work.
"I do not expect that there are any important transactions that go through a special vehicle based on what I've seen," Mnuchin said. "But if there are any transactions that intend to evade our sanctions, we will aggressively pursue our remedies."
European diplomats say that a debate is under way within the administration on the issue of humanitarian supplies, with some state department officials warning that the United States might be blamed for the death of Iranian civilians if nothing more was done to guarantee the delivery of medicines and basic necessities.
They said the most difficult line came from the White House, which loved the pressure it was exerting on Iran. Friday, Trump tweeted a photo of itself in the style of an advertisement for the fantastic television series of Game of Thrones, with the slogan: "Sanctions Are Coming, November 5".
Although the administration does not officially seek a change of regime in Iran, a European diplomat said this was the ultimate goal of National Security Advisor John Bolton.
"Bolton thinks the regime is going to collapse," said the diplomat. "So, the discussion we are trying to have with this administration is what happens next, and it has never been going anywhere so far."
Trump discussed the possibility of holding a secret meeting with Iranian President Hbadan Rouhani at the UN General Assembly in 2017, but Rouhani rejected the proposal. The US president would no longer be interested in the talks, saying that economic isolation would force Tehran to make concessions without having to negotiate.
"First [US officials] say that it is too early and that the Iranians must suffer, "said the European diplomat about the politics of the administration. "They must suffer the consequences of the sanctions and we will see."
Ellie Geranmayeh, Research Fellow at the European Council for External Relations, said: "The administration told the Europeans: we will not go the extra mile to rebadure European companies on this front.
"I've talked to a number of European pharmaceutical companies and they said their banks had indicated that they would have a hard time managing all payments from Iran," Geranmayeh added. . "This is not in line with the Trump Government's stated policy that sanctions are not against the Iranian people."
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