On February 2, the Council of the European Union, which consists of member states’ foreign ministers, released an outline of its views on Iran and related issues. The ministers reiterated their support for the nuclear deal and recognized that Iran had fulfilled its commitments.
On January 31, Britain, France, and Germany announced the establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for European companies to facilitate trade with Iran. The entity is formally named the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX). The “exact method INSTEX uses will be the first instance in which Europe tries to mitigate the effects of U.S.
The United States and major European powers reacted differently to the new U.N. report on Iran’s missile program and implementation of the nuclear deal. In a speech at the United Nations on Dec. 12, 2018, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo called on the world body to impose tougher sanctions on Iran to contain its development and testing of ballistic missiles that now have a range capable of hitting Europe, Israel and other U.S. allies.
On December 3, six families of dual and foreign nationals imprisoned in Iran published an open letter calling on the international community to take action on behalf of their loved ones. “We believe that the Iranian authorities have little incentive to end the cruel and horrific practice of hostage taking as a result of inadequate pressure from the international community. World leaders need to make the political cost for committing human rights violations so high that releasing our loved ones becomes advantageous to the Iranian authorities,” they wrote.
Iran’s car industry has been under growing pressure since the Trump Administration re-imposed sanctions in August 2018. The challenges are economic, demographic, environmental, and medical—a microcosm of changes in the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. Iran has gone through waves of sanctions over the past four decades that have spilled over into daily life, including access to transportation as the population mushroomed to 82 million.
Iran’s often colorful press — both conservative and reformist — invoked vivid images and headlines in covering the Trump administration's decision to reimpose economic sanctions. The following is a sampling from November 4-6 of major newspaper front pages after the U.S. announcement.
"We Won’t Return to the Past"
"A Report on Political-Economic Consequences of Re-imposed U.S. Sanctions" (November 4)
Since the revolution's early years, Iran has been linked — directly or indirectly — to acts of terror on five continents. The Islamic Republic has “conducted terrorist plots, assassinations, and attacks in more than 20 countries worldwide,” according to a State Department report released in September 2018. Most have been linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
Terrorism has been a recurrent challenge for Iran since the 1979 revolution. The perpetrators, targets and frequency have fluctuated. The early attacks killed hundreds of government officials, including a president, prime minister, cabinet ministers, and dozens of members of parliament. Attacks have been carried out by a wide array of actors—ethnic separatists, Sunni militants, monarchists, Marxists and, statistically most of all, the opposition Mujahadeen-e Khalq (MEK).
Top representatives from the European Union, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom said they regretted the U.S. decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran. In a joint statement, foreign ministers and finance ministers pledged to protect European companies doing legitimate business with the Islamic Republic.
On October 30, Denmark’s intelligence agency alleged that Iran plotted to assassinate an Iranian Arab opposition figure on its territory.
