Posted on 08/03/2007 9:08:45 PM PDT by freedom44
Diplomats of the larger European countries such as France, Germany and the UK, have warned the US against any other possible sanctions on Iran.
The mentioned countries, as well as a number of other European estates have intensified their lobbying campaign to stop moves mandating sanctions on companies investing over $20m in energy sector in Iran while they may even cause a serious row at the World Trade Organization.
Since they are involved in a $10bn project to produce liquefied natural gas in Iran, companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol, that are searching for oil in the US territories too, will be subject to sanctions.
An EU diplomat said that if the House of Representatives ratified the bill, it would be against the WTO rules and unacceptable.
Nicholas Burns, the undersecretary for state, expressed his opposition to the bill in March. However, it seemed that the European governments wanted a stronger signal to Iran from the Bush administration at the time.
There was a quotation from Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative Washington think-tank, that there would be serious repercussions in the multilateral efforts if the US went ahead with harsher sanctions against Iran.
It means that the corporate dealmakers have told the EU they will not stomach any additional losses on doing business with the mullahs.
They feel they’ve already suffered enough after losing deals with Saddam.
Euroweenies showing their global self-interests albeit temporary, again.
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