US-Iran Crisis Escalates

191

May 11, 2019

Published in El Periódico
(Spain) on 8 May 2019
by Editorial (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Marta Quirós Alarcón. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.

The Iran crisis that U.S. President Donald Trump was hoping for has taken on the form the White House was going after. In order to reinforce Israel’s security strategy in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia’s hegemonic ambitions over the Persian Gulf, Trump has been vilifying Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with the republic of the ayatollahs since the 2016 election campaign, a deal that was backed by the European Union, Russia and China. From the moment the president decided to leave the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and impose sanctions on Iran, an escalation of tensions was only to be expected. The first step was Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announcing his decision to stop selling surplus enriched uranium and heavy water, raising warning flags, because it means that—regardless of the veneer of ad hoc diplomacy—the Iranian regime is ignoring the accord, or, at the very least, setting conditions to stay.

The impact of this dissension could be huge within the EU, which must apply the Blockage Statute to safeguard the interests of Iranian investors and neutralize any possible retaliation on the part of the United States against European companies. At the same time, the EU cannot wash its hands of a new nuclear arms race in the Gulf, which will surely have an impact the price of oil and the stability of the region. This is a prospect which threatens to fracture the always precarious unity of external action of the 28 member states.

Escalada en la crisis EEUU- Irán

A partir del momento en que Trump optó por abandonar el acuerdo nuclear, solo cabía esperar una escalada de la tensión

La crisis con Irán deseada por el presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, ha adquirido el perfil perseguido por la Casa Blanca. Para blindar la estrategia de seguridad de Israel en Oriente Próximo y la pretensión hegemónica de Arabia Saudí en el golfo Pérsico, Trump denuesta desde la campaña electoral del 2016 el acuerdo nuclear alcanzado por Barack Obama con la república de los ayatolás, respaldado por la Unión Europea, Rusia y China. A partir del momento en que el presidente optó por abandonar el Plan Integral de Acción Conjunta e imponer sanciones a Irán, solo cabía esperar una escalada de la tensión. La decisión anunciada por el presidente Hasán Rohaní de dejar de vender los excedentes de uranio enriquecido y agua pesada ha sido el primer paso y hace que se disparen todas las alarmas porque significa que, más allá del envoltorio diplomático ad hoc, el régimen iraní se desentiende del acuerdo o, cuando menos, pone condiciones para no dejarlo.

Los efectos del choque de trenes pueden ser enormes en el seno de la UE, que debe proteger los intereses de los inversores en Irán con la aplicación del Estatuto de Bloqueo para neutralizar eventuales represalias de Estados Unidos contra empresas europeas y, al mismo tiempo, no puede desentenderse de una nueva carrera nuclear en el Golfo con una repercusión segura en el precio del petróleo y la estabilidad en la región. Un panorama que amenaza con fracturar la siempre precaria unidad de acción exterior de los Veintiocho.

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