US using banking sanctions as weapon against Iran: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Jim W. Dean, the managing editor of Veterans Today, to discuss the US reluctance for completely lifting the sanctions against Iran's banking system. 

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What exactly does it mean? On the one hand Mogherini says that definitely they want to cooperate with Iran, the European Union, and they want to open up their banking system but the United States basically is not along that. What does that mean about really the relationship between Washington and the EU?

Dean: There are several countries in the EU where there is rising political movement now that people are tired of the EU being subjected to actually US policies that conflict with the goals and economic needs of the EU and this is a really stupid move on Obama's part to be doing this because it is very flagrant, everybody knew that one of the main goals of the nuclear deal was to remove the banking sanctions.

So, really what the US is doing here is that they are vouching on the bed. It is basically showing everybody in the future that just because the US signs something does not mean that it is going to implement it, that bring the lawyers in and parcel words and say oh no this was not really included, so is a very very big deal that Mogherini stood by Zarif today and said this because now this shows how big a political mistake this was and then also it is a kind of embolding some of the hardliners in Iran basically saying that you should deal with US on anything because they won’t live up to their word and frankly this is substantiating that position.

Press TV: How do you see this actually working itself out? Do you think that Washington will continue with this line or will the EU be able to pressure it because of its own interest into actually backing down at least for the European side of things?

Dean: You are exactly right that nothing is going to happen, the change in the US position unless the US is back down and Mogherini basically stepping up to is showing that they realized that. So, now we have to see the European countries, foreign ministers, the European people standing up to support her, we need to see media editorials and there needs to be visible push back on the US that this is hurting the US's reputation in the world or what it has left anyway and that is a really stupid move after all of the work that ended in this agreement then trying to cheat Iran on the implementation of it. It is just really a diplomatic mistake that almost goes off the boards.

Press TV: And that is we speak of course the Europeans, the banking system specifically financial institutions are afraid of course of being fined, of being sanctioned with a lack clarity in dealing with this situation though on one hand the law is there that the sanctions have been lifted against Iran and on the other hand we have the United States continuing to flex the muscles. Is it a possibility in all of this that Washington actually does not want the EU to benefit from growing relations with Iran?

Dean: Absolutely because the US is saying although other countries supposedly may be able to engage with Iran, we are still going to keep our own country's bans on and this is what even worst that is pouring more gasoline on the fire that the US is using the banking system as a weapon of economic war not just on Iran but on its own allies. And this is really going to have people start thinking about alternate banking systems which are growing if the US now started cooperating with some of the development with the BRICS banks and things like that everyone is going begin to see that we have to build up another option of not being blackmailed by the US, by being extorted with the banking system. So, this is going to have long-term repercussions to it. This is a really bad diplomatic mistake here.      

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