Pompeo in Brussels to Press Allies Over Iran
BRUSSELS (Dispatches) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been meeting senior British, French and German officials on the sidelines of a NATO summit here to persuade them to join Washington in pressuring Iran.
Pompeo was meeting with the three countries’ political directors on Wednesday or Thursday, trying to assure Paris, London and Berlin of "alternative oil supplies” when new U.S. sanctions kick in against Iran on November 4.
The U.S. has warned third countries against buying Iranian crude as Washington attempts to choke the Islamic Republic’s oil revenues.
Speaking to Press TV, author and political scientist Kaveh Afrasiabi played down Pompeo’s efforts, saying they will likely fail to produce any result.
"The U.S. … has isolated itself by unilaterally exiting the JCPOA and the Europeans have made a resolute effort to preserve the JCPOA,” he added, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of the nuclear agreement.
"The American course of diplomacy and trying to bully the allies into something that they don’t want to” are "against their national interest,” he said, adding such a policy "is simply uncivilized and a barbarian way of conducting global diplomacy.”
Pompeo, he said, was "very slowly to learn the ropes of diplomacy” by considering requests for sanctions waivers from the countries which are Iran’s traditional oil customers.
Pompeo was meeting with the three countries’ political directors on Wednesday or Thursday, trying to assure Paris, London and Berlin of "alternative oil supplies” when new U.S. sanctions kick in against Iran on November 4.
The U.S. has warned third countries against buying Iranian crude as Washington attempts to choke the Islamic Republic’s oil revenues.
Speaking to Press TV, author and political scientist Kaveh Afrasiabi played down Pompeo’s efforts, saying they will likely fail to produce any result.
"The U.S. … has isolated itself by unilaterally exiting the JCPOA and the Europeans have made a resolute effort to preserve the JCPOA,” he added, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of the nuclear agreement.
"The American course of diplomacy and trying to bully the allies into something that they don’t want to” are "against their national interest,” he said, adding such a policy "is simply uncivilized and a barbarian way of conducting global diplomacy.”
Pompeo, he said, was "very slowly to learn the ropes of diplomacy” by considering requests for sanctions waivers from the countries which are Iran’s traditional oil customers.