The ongoing talk in the corridors of the European Union institutions about the future of dealing with Iran is causing more disturbance and confusion, in light of the awareness of all officials here that the file, with all its aspects and issues, is dangerously close to the end of the dead-end tunnel.
The foreign ministers of the European Union countries, who held their first meeting this year yesterday in the Belgian capital, Brussels, did not succeed in presenting anything new indicating that European capitals had started groping for the right path to deal with Iran. As they had only a fourth package of sanctions affecting several individuals whose entry into the Union’s territory was prohibited and their assets were frozen, in addition to institutions that were prevented from any form of dealing with them, on the background of their involvement in repression against the protesters at home, whom Tehran insists on calling “troublemakers.” ".
The issue of European citizens or dual nationals detained in Iran, against whom harsh court rulings have been issued, adds a new layer that burdens the union and its countries, increases its stumbling block and limits its vision of any future for dealing with the "confusing neighbour".
The desire of the French Foreign Ministers, Catherine Colonna, and Belgium, Hajjah Lahbib, to involve the Union with its countries and institutions in the search for “honorable” ways and means to liberate these people and return them to their countries, was met yesterday only with a lot of verbal sympathy and little acceptance and interest among the heads of European diplomacy.
It does not seem that European countries and institutions have many means to deal with this file, which is added to a series of complex and thorny files that govern the relationship with Tehran, "as I said earlier, the suppression of demonstrators, death sentences, arming Russia, hostages and dual nationals held in Iran, we discussed all this And it constitutes a complex set of issues that make it difficult to advance on the path of the nuclear agreement, which is in a state of stalemate, not dead but not moving,” said Joseph Borrell, during his press conference after the end of the meeting.
Borrell, who is known for his realism and experience, does not see any way to deal with all this except the fourth package of sanctions approved yesterday, which, for reference, came much less than what the European Parliament demanded in a resolution it adopted a few days ago in which it called for the inclusion of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on the list. terrorist organizations.
It is evident from the European official's words that the concerned countries must rely on the fact that they have to deal on their own with the issue of their nationals detained in Iran, and that the road towards de-escalation of the growing tension with Tehran is still long and full of mines.