The Iraqi premier is forced to apply US sanctions to Iran. But he adds that the measure of sanctions is "unjust" and ends up targeting ordinary people. The US president warns: Those who do business with Tehran "will no longer be able to do business with the United States". EU responds: "We will increase business" with the Islamic Republic.
Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says he must reluctantly apply the American sanctions against Iran, its neighbour and ally in the Middle East region.
The Iraqi leader in fact remembers the suffering of his country for the 12 years under international embargo, wanted by the UN Security Council following the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. "We do not support sanctions - added the premier - because they are a strategic mistake. However, we are forced to respect them ".
The Iraqi leader went on to underline that "in general" attacks on the economy and life of a nation are "unjust". At the same time he claims to have to adapt to the provisions of Washington - a key ally, like Tehran, in the fight against the jihadists of the Islamic State (IS, ex Isis) who have long occupied part of the country - to "protect our people" and our interests".
Iraq is the second largest importer of non-hydrocarbon products from Iran. In 2017 the volume of business was around 6 billion dollars. In addition, the provinces bordering Iran depend largely on the Islamic Republic for electricity supplies and local businesses.
Yesterday, meanwhile, US President Donald Trump launched a very harsh warning against his allies and the international community via Twitter: "Anyone doing business with Iran - he said - will no longer be able to do business with the United States". Words that follow the entry into force of the first part of the sanctions against Tehran, ordered by the White House following the decision to cancel the 2015 nuclear agreement (the JCPOA). From November, those relating to Iranian oil exports will also be applied.
The US leader recalled that "sanctions against Iran have officially started, they are the strongest ever imposed and in November they will reach another level. Anyone doing business with Iran will not do business with the United States. "I ask, he concludes, for "peace in the world, nothing less!".
The High Representative for the Common Foreign and Defense Policy of the European Union, Federica Mogherini, responded to the statement by the White House leader by renewing her encouragement of EU companies to "increase their business with Iran". The head of European diplomacy recalls that Tehran is respecting the commitments made under the nuclear agreement and for this reason it must be supported on an economic and commercial level.