President Trump has taken a hard line on Iran working to strengthen international pressure after pulling out of the failed nuclear deal. It looks like this approach is starting to work for the president after getting a major concession from Germany.
According to The Daily Wire:
President Trump has won another victory: Germany’s central bank has terminated a $400 million cash delivery to Iran.
Deutsche Bundesbank has previously worked with the Iranian-owned European-Iranian trade bank (EIH) to end-around sanctions the United States has placed on Iran. As Fox News reports, “The U.S. and the European Union previously sanctioned the EIH for its role in advancing Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. The sanctions on the EIH were lifted after the world powers reached an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program in 2015.”
In July, it was revealed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government was trying to circumvent the sanctions that were implemented this week. U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell urged Merkel to terminate the $400 million cash delivery.
Grenell tweeted his approval of Deutsche Bank’s actions:
We are pleased to see German businesses stopping their trade with Iran, complying with U.S. sanctions, and helping pressure the Iranian regime back to the table. We stand together to stop Iran’s malign activities.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) August 7, 2018
The EU has recently tried to position itself to help Iran and defy US sanctions. It is unclear if this is just a warning, but it looks like Germany does not want any part of it.
