Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Tuesday called the European Union (E.U.) ‘morally bankrupt’ for snubbing the U.S. and its reimposition of tough sanctions on Iran.
“The E.U. is morally bankrupt, and we need to remember that next time they try to lecture us,” Mr. Erdan told Israel Radio. “The EU, along with China, Russia, France, Germany and the UK, was also a signatory to the deal and has not withdrawn.”
Mr. Erdan was speaking after E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc is actively encouraging enterprises to increase their business with Iran. She made the announcement on the same day renewed U.S. trade sanctions against the Islamic Republic restarted.
As Breitbart Jerusalem reported, Mogherini said it’s up to Europeans to decide who they want to trade with and not the U.S.:
We are doing our best to keep Iran in the deal, to keep Iran benefiting from the economic benefits that the agreement brings to the people of Iran because we believe this is in the security interests of not only our region, but also of the world. If there is one piece of international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation that is delivering, it has to be maintained.
The United States reimposed stiff economic sanctions on Iran on Monday, renewing pressure on the Islamic Republic despite statements of doubt from European allies, three months after President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the international accord originally brokered by Barack Obama.
Mr. Erdan, who also heads the Strategic Affairs Ministry, praised the U.S. for reimposing punitive sanctions on Iran that brought back into effect the harsh penalties lifted under the Iran nuclear deal.
“It would be better if the Iranian regime would disappear entirely from this world, but it would also be a blessing to see Obama’s bad nuclear agreement replaced with a better one,” he said.
“In my opinion, there is a good chance of that. We can already see positive results from what Trump did.”
More U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector and central bank are to be reimposed in early November.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Republic, and called on European nations to follow his lead.
“It symbolizes the determination to curb Iran’s regional aggression and its ongoing plans to arm itself with nuclear weapons,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a video released Monday.
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