Iran - Europe Business´-or-Ethics

Massoud Mohamed
Mammassoud@yahoo.com

2017 / 2 / 12

In reality Iran has not yet shown itself to be a partner, but merely a market. The country has not opened it has only opened its doors to lucrative business opportunities. Iran did not discontinue its nuclear program out of conviction, but instead, because the international pressure was too great and the sanctions had brought the country to its knees. The power of the mullahs in the self-proclaimed theocracy remains unbroken.

Iran and Al Qaeda long term relation:

A federal district court in Manhattan entered a historic ruling that reveals new facts about Iran s support of al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks. U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels ruled that Iran and Hezbollah materially and ---dir---ectly supported al Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks and are legally responsible for damages to hundreds of family members of 9/11 victims who are plaintiffs in the case.

Europe Iran terrorism blind eye :

The main question that raise up after such a news is what is the reaction of what is called the “ free world” Europe and the west toward Iran relation with “Al Qaeda” and “ISIS”, everyone knows the story of the Iraqi Army in Al Mousel where Maliki the former prime minister of Iraq has stocked it with military materials and weapons that ended up in the hand of ISIS fighters.
The Iraqi Army, trained by the U.S., withdrawn from the city without any fight against ISIS advances due to an unannounced plan that allow handing over the City to ISIS, the excuse that Iraqi officials used to explain this Quick escape was poor training, broken equipment and low morale. They left behind arms, munitions and equipment that were produced and paid for by the United States, which has given ---$---25 billion to train and arm the Iraqi Army and other branches of security forces since 2003, the year the U.S. invaded Iraq. So now ISIS possesses hundreds of Humvees, pickup trucks, tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as ammunition and artillery shells. They have used those weapons to continue to march through Iraq and to help out their fight in neighbouring Syria.
Not only the relation with ISIS is what should disturb the west, what actually should put an end to the honey moon is the new missile test launched by Iran, In a statement to the media, Iran s foreign minister insisted that Iran s missile program is not part of the nuclear agreement, even as he declined to confirm´-or-deny the missile test. This issue has been sorely missing from the discussion since the negotiations initiated with Iran on its nuclear program, the prospect that Iran might continue important work on a nuclear weapons capability beyond the bounds of the agreement, and even beyond the borders of Iran itself. Indeed, there is a strong possibility that Iran will continue to benefit from North Korea s nuclear advances, and some of Iran s nuclear activities might take place in North Korea itself, using the hermit state as a convenient backyard.


Trump & Iran:

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Iran over its ballistic missile test that violated a UN Security Council resolution. Mr. Trump, in his tweets on Thursday, said “Iran has been formally put on notice”.
As a -dir-ect threat trump said that Iran “Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
In his today s tweet president Trump said “Iran is playing with fire - they don t appreciate how "kind" President Obama was to them. Not me!”.
On the other hand Europe surprises you with its attitude toward Iran, and yet defends Iran Position.
EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini on insisted the bloc will stand by the Iran nuclear accord, bluntly condemned by US President-elect Donald Trump, because it serves Europe’s security needs.
“It is proof that diplomacy works and delivers. The European ---union--- will continue to work for the respect and implementation of this extremely important deal, most of all for our security,” Mogherini told reporters as she went into an EU foreign ministers meeting.

Europe relations with Iran:

EU relations with Iran started to improve at the beginning of the 1990s. On the Iranian side, under the pragmatic leadership of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, president since 1989, there was a willingness to rebuild the Iranian economy after the Iran-Iraq war and to normalise relations with the West. The EU wanted to reach out to Iran due to its economic and strategic importance. On the European side, these relations took the form of a ‘critical dialogue’ where sensitive issues like Iran human rights violations, support for terrorism,´-or-opposition to the Middle East peace process could be discussed. After Mohammad Khatami, an advocate of political moderation was elected president in 1997, EU-Iran relations intensified in areas of trade, culture, academics, etc. Negotiations on a Trade and Cooperation Agreement between EU and Iran started in 2001. But suddenly, with the revelations in 2002 that Iran had not reported nuclear sites the nuclear issue came to dominate the political debate between the two sides. Even then however, despite US opposition, the EU maintained the pricous policy of dialogue with Iran. This method led to an agreement between Iran and the EU in 2004: Iran accepted to stop enriching its uranium in exchange for economic, technological and nuclear cooperation.

Iranian European Relation By Numbers:

- China and the United Arab Emirates are Iran s main trade partners, followed by the EU. The EU used to be the first trading partner of Iran before the current sanctions regime.
-Balance in trade with Iran was €5.2 billion in 2015.
-The EU exported almost €6.5 billion worth of goods to Iran in 2015. EU exports to Iran are mainly machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and manufactured goods.
-The EU imported over €1.2 billion worth of goods from Iran in 2015. Most EU imports from Iran are energy-related (mineral fuels), followed by chemicals, manufactured goods and food. Due to sanctions, EU oil imports from Iran came to a halt.

Economy – trade

In terms of trade and investment, re-engagement with Iran will create opportunities on both sides. While in 2004 the EU exports to Iran were reaching the level of almost €12 billion, due to the sanctions they dropped by 46% to less than €6.5 billion in 2014. Recognising the importance of the global trading system, the EU is particularly supportive with regard to Iran s willingness to join the WTO.

Energy

With the objective of a full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), including its Annex III on nuclear co-operation, the EU will aim to develop durable relations with Iran in the nuclear field. The initial focus will be on nuclear safety matters aimed at strengthening the regulatory and legislative framework.
Cooperation on wider energy issues could aim at promoting and improving the business and investment climate and exploring the potential of Iran for Europe s energy security given its large gas and oil reserves. It could also comprise an increased use of clean energy and efficient energy demand management, and encouraging transparent, rule-based and well ---function---ing regional and global energy markets.
Business cooperation
Potential areas of cooperation range from industry and services sectors, SME policy and business environment. This could facilitate the development of Iranian companies and the creation of jobs and at the same time support European companies wishing to do business in Iran. Concrete ways of cooperation will be examined in other sectors, such as construction/infrastructures, SME development, tourism and creative industries.
Research and innovation
Science, research and innovation are particularly promising areas of cooperation under the framework of Horizon 2020, which is open to participation from Iranian public and private entities. Collaboration in the area of renewable energy, climate change and bio-economy are also possibilities.

International Cooperation and Development

As an upper middle income country, the bulk of development cooperation with Iran is implemented through thematic programmes. Iran is involved in the "Support to the Silk Routes Partnership for Migration under the Budapest Process" (which improves basic structures in migration management). The country also benefits from activities under the Climate Technology Centre and Network initiative. The European Commission has just adopted a new project of €5 million euro in the area of nuclear safety cooperation, which is in line with the provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that foresees civil nuclear cooperation in specific technical areas. The project will support the regulatory authority of Iran in reviewing the regulatory framework and building technical capacity by transferring EU expertise, support regional outreach and the establishment of a nuclear safety center in Iran.

Humanitarian aid

After decades of protracted displacement of Afghans, Iran is hosting an estimated 980.000 documented refugees and asylum seekers (UNHCR, June 2015) and between 1.5 and 2 million undocumented ones. The European Commission has been continuously providing humanitarian aid to refugees and asylum seekers in Iran. Between 2002 and 2015, the European Commission allocated € 10.5 million to Afghan Refugee programmes in Iran and this assistance will increase in the future.

What is Europe Objective in Iran?
During her one day trip to Tehran after the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.
European --union--s foreign policy chief Federica Morgherini has stated that the 28-member bloc once again wants to become Iran’s biggest trading partner. “We are the ones that used to be Iran’s first partner on the economic fields, on trade, investment, and we want to be back to that.
Some Europeans are rubbing their hands and others are rubbing their eyes: The sanctions against Iran have just been lifted and the race for lucrative business contracts has already begun. Everybody wants a piece of the action. It is no wonder, as Iran is in -------dir-------e need of catching up after decades of isolation.
The country offers incredible market opportunities and it is rich, too. It has vast oil deposits and certain circles of society undeniably have financial resources. So now, company representatives, ministers and heads of state from around the world are traveling to Tehran to promote mutual benefits and their traditionally close ties. In return, the Iranian president travels the world and is courted by all. Not long ago, a pariah of the international community, he has now become an interesting trade partner.
The red carpet is rolled out for the Iranian president wherever he goes. Even the pope received President Rouhani, even if it was not about business. The Iranian guest in Rome was shielded from anything disturbing demonstrators should not jeopardise the lucrative business opportunities. Europe decided to make business with Iran, at the expense of it s own identity and own values. Did a a cultural nation like Italy had to cover it s statues because nudity may offend the religious sentiments of a state guest. In the worst case, the guest must just simply look away´-or-stay away.
It looks like money seriously talks, few Kurds sentenced in Iran, big words like equality, democracy, justice has no values, and others can turn a blind eye toward it when it come to contracts that can bring billions for Europe.

Conclusion:

Compared to Iran s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei, President Rouhani may be the lesser evil, but the West s current ingratiation with Iran is borderline. Despite all the revenue opportunities, it should not be forgotten that nothing at all has improved in Iran in recent years.
As tempting as the lucrative business deals may be, the values of freedom and the rule of law are still more important if Europe want to keep it s reputation and values. The mullah regime and malleable states and companies should not be the only ones to benefit from the changes.
The benefits must also be felt by the international community ( zero terrorism involvement by Iran), and the Iranian people ( in one world Democracy),. The latter, in particular Iranian, not only wants more goods and services, but above all, they want the magic word “ Freedom”, they want change for the better and an opening of the country to the outside world.
























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