MerkelRouhani
© NPR/TimeGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel • Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
The EU and Germany have reached an agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and promised to make up for Iran the loss resulted from private companies' exit after the US sanctions. This was confirmed today in a public announcement by Iran's Vice-President.

Iran signed the deal with major world powers - the US, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2015. Under this agreement, Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program, and in exchange received an easing of economic sanctions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its latest report in May was able to indeed verify Iran's compliance to the deal for the eleventh time since the agreement was implemented in 2016. This is a fact seemingly under-reported in western corporate media, but is a story long followed by FRN.

Regardless of this commitment, US President Donald Trump, in an attempt to comply with Israel's apparent Yinon plan for a Greater Israel, withdrew from the deal on May 8, 2018. In an act of showmanship, he called it the worst deal ever. Subsequently he re-imposed unilateral economic sanctions against Iran, which the EU has decided, in its wisdom, not to go along with.

Instead, the EU has broken with the US over Iran sanctions, and a series of other questions including stability in Syria, and increasingly so, on the subject of sanctions on Russia.

Iranian VP, Eshaq Jahangiri said on Saturday August 18:
"The nuclear deal was a good opportunity for Iran to advance its development goals and improve its international status. But, the Americans delivered a blow to the deal by withdrawing from it," He added that Iran was "still seeking its rights under the deal."
Describing the international reaction to the US decision as a political achievement, Jahangiri said the Americans are now isolated since all countries, except for a few, have supported Iran's position. There has been no limit in doing business with Europe so far, including selling oil, he said, noting that some private European firms have left Iran with no great implication except for some agreements.

Europe has ensured that the loss would be compensated by small and middle enterprises (SMEs) before the main US sanctions on oil and banking ties take effect, the Vice-President said citing the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Washington has urged its allies to cut their oil imports from the Middle Eastern country by November.

With regard to Iran's role in the Syrian conflict, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear on several occasions that Iran has made the EU safer. This is despite the fact that Atlanticist powers, as well as Turkish influence, operating in and upon the EU have cajoled it to accept any number of unscreened 'refugees', who wound up being FSA and ISIS terrorists 'on the run'.

In related news, Putin has met recently with Merkel to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis in the EU, and the two appear to have agreed that repatriation of many of the Syrian refugees is a good sign, and should be seen through and made 'permanent'.

Joaquin Flores is Editor-in-Chief of Fort Russ News, as well as the Director of the Belgrade based think-tank, the Center for Syncretic Studies. Flores has twenty years experience in community, labor, and anti-war organizing. Flores has appeared regularly on Iran's PressTV and Russia's RT news.