Back to the Future

Transatlantic unity on sanctions played a key role in achieving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran over its nuclear program. As well as the sanctions relief it entails, the deal will progressively bring both sides of the Atlantic back to a status quo ante—a misalignment of the United States and Europe’s respective legal constraints with regard to their relations with Iran. This situation is creating concerns on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly Europe’s negative view of both the overreach and extraterritoriality of U.S. sanctions and the United States’ concern that Europe is uninterested in enforcing the deal because of revitalized economic interests in Iran.

Maintaining transatlantic unity will be critical both to enforce and to deliver the obligations as prescribed by the agreement in the future. Even more importantly, it will be necessary to respond swiftly and strongly to Iran’s potential violations of the agreement or perhaps even renew sanctions on Iran after the deal ends if Iran’s nuclear ambitions continue to be problematic. Beyond Iran, making sure that the United States and Europe continue to see eye-to-eye on sanctions policy writ large will also be required to preserve the efficiency and sustainability of an increasingly important tool of statecraft to alter behavior that violates international legal norms, short of the use of military force.