In 1990s redux, EU to consider blocking US sanctions over Iran
BRUSSELS - In 1996, when the United States tried to penalise foreign companies trading with Cuba, the European Union forced Washington to back down by threatening retaliatory sanctions.
Two decades later, the European Union is being driven to threaten such measures again, over Iran, and this time may follow through after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and world powers and reimposed an array of wide sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
This left dismayed European allies scrambling to salvage the international nuclear pact as Tehran said Trump had made a mistake and proved Washington could not be trusted.
The EU's so-called blocking statute is the most powerful tool at its immediate disposal because it bans any EU company from complying with US sanctions and does not recognise any court rulings that enforce American penalties.
