TEHRAN — A member of the European Parliament has called on the European Union (EU) to resist U.S. bullying and take an independent stance on the sanctions Washington exerts on other nations such as Iran and Syria.

In a Thursday interview with Press TV, Mick Wallace said most U.S. measures are illegal and against international law – whether they are on Iran, Venezuela, Syria, or Nicaragua.

“The European Union and countries within the European Union have a genuine desire to have better relations with Iran,” Wallace said.

He added that the EU members’ submission to Washington “has shown them to be weak and have failed to stand up to U.S. bullying.”

He also pointed out that during the past twenty years or so the U.S. has increasingly shown “less and less respect for international law.”

Wallace said Iran remains in the focus of Washington because of “Israel's obsession with Iran.”

The United States on Thursday announced a new round of sanctions on Iran which includes targeting 18 banks with sanctions.

In July 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and the European Union. The deal required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for termination of sanctions, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal’s adoption. 

In May 2018, however, the United States unilaterally abandoned the JCPOA and implemented hardline policies against Tehran, which Washington has described as the “maximum pressure” policy.

Iran waited an entire year for the other parties to the deal, especially the three European countries, to protect its interests under the historic accord. But after they failed to do so, Tehran began to gradually reduce its commitments under the JCPOA.

On January 5, Iran took a fifth and last step in reducing its commitments and said it would no longer observe any operational limitations on its nuclear industry, whether concerning the capacity and level of uranium enrichment, the volume of stockpiled uranium or research and development. However, Iran has insisted if the Europeans honor their obligations it will immediately reverse its decisions.

MH/PA