THE HEAVY IRAN SANCTIONS – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  President Trump's decision to reimpose severe sanctions on Iran is already producing results.  From Legal Insurrection:

European companies are leaving the Islamic Republic of Iran in droves fearing U.S. sanctions after President Donald Trump’s decided to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal earlier this month. The regime in Tehran is “particularly concerned by the decisions of various European companies to halt their Iranian operations until the future of sanctions was clear,” several German newspapers reported on Monday.

“The cascade of decisions by EU companies to end their activities in Iran makes things much more complicated,” Iranian Foreign Minister said. The statement comes days after the French oil company Total pulled out $5 billion worth of investments from the country fearing U.S. sanctions.

The EU, backed by the governments of France and Germany, has been scrambling to save the European business interests in Iran. German and French companies had made huge investments in Iranian oil and industrial sectors since the nuclear deal eased sanction on the regime three years ago.

The EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the bloc’s executive arm, proposed enacting laws to allow European companies to ignore the U.S. sanctions. This so-called ‘blocking statute’ could protect European firms from prosecution by the U.S. Treasury and other agencies.

The Trump administration has made its intentions clear to go after any foreign player found guilty of sanctions-busting in Iran. “US withdrawal and new raft of sanctions will hurt a number of European firms with connections to Iran. Washington has threatened to hold anyone doing prohibited business in Iran to account.” Germany’s state-run DW News confirmed.

COMMENT:  Oh, those Europeans.  Their diplomats float around the world announcing their moral superiority and love of peace, when we know it's all about money.  It's the profits from Iran that drove the Iran nuclear deal, not any desire to restrain one of the worst regimes on Earth.  Hey, isn't that America's job? 

We are minded of Churchill's admonition about he who feeds the alligator, hoping that he'll be eaten last.  The Europeans are feeding the Iranian alligator, selling him the food, in hopes that the alligator will eat Europe last.

Gotta hand it to President Trump.  His very roughness is exposing certain truths. 

EU diplomats are now reportedly warning Israel that Trump will not be there forever, and that the Israelis had better start obeying the Europeans.  It would be nice if occasionally our European "allies" would warn the enemies of freedom, not its friends.

May 23,  2018