US Imposes Sanctions on Iran, Then EU Pledges $20.7 Million to Iran to Offset Them
The European Union announced Thursday that it would be sending 18 million euros ($20.7 million) to Iran in the first of several financial aid packages aimed at economically supporting the country under the weight of United States’ sanctions.
Thursday’s financial package is a chunk of a bigger package of 50 million euros it plans to provide Iran as part of the EU’s plan to renew cooperation and engagement between Iran and the EU following the crumbling of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal.
“With these measures, the EU demonstrates its support to the Iranian people and their peaceful and sustainable development. It encourages stronger involvement of all actors in Iran and in particular the private sector,” Neven Mimica, the EU’s Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, said in a statement.
The announcement is part of the EU’s effort to maintain the nuclear deal with Iran after President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in May.
The commission is allotting 8 million euros for Iran’s private sector specifically, and another 8 million toward technical support in environmental projects.
The remaining 2 million euros are planned for fighting drugs, crime, and harm caused by drugs.
” […] this new package will widen economic and sectoral relations in areas that are of direct benefit to our citizens,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in the statement.
Iran’s currency, the rial, has also lost nearly half its value since April.
U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said Wednesday that while the reimposed sanctions are having a significant effect on Iran’s economy, a regime change in Iran is not part of the United States’ strategy.
Sanctions on Iran having effect but regime change is not U.S. policy, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton tells @Reuters https://t.co/iP6nHGJpRy via @DanWilliams pic.twitter.com/bAXVv2OTFg
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 22, 2018
“I think the effects, the economic effects certainly, are even stronger than we anticipated,” Bolton said at a news conference.
Several European countries have made efforts to stabilize the Iran deal, and on Tuesday Germany called for the EU to set up payment systems separate from the U.S. to save the deal.
“We expect that Europeans will see, as businesses all over Europe are seeing, that the choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear to them,” Bolton added.
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