Tabnak – Against the backdrop of Washington’s attempts to cut Iran’s ties with the global market by intensifying economic sanctions, it seems that the situation surrounding Iran is pushing the other countries toward devising new economic and financial mechanisms independent of the US.
In this vein, France says the European Union must use the ongoing row with the US over the Iran nuclear deal as a chance to increase the bloc's financial autonomy and stop following Washington’s lead in its trade relations with the world.
“I am convinced that the outcome of that crisis with Iran will be the chance for Europe to have its own independent financial institutions, so we can trade with whoever we want,” French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday.
What the French minister called ‘crisis with Iran’ is an ongoing row with the US over the sanctions it unilaterally imposed on the Islamic Republic after the Donald Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
In defiance of the US’ bid to put Iran under pressure, the European Union on September 24 introduced an initiative to facilitate payment to/from Iran as part of its efforts to save the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The "Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)", which is aimed at keeping trade with Tehran flowing while the US sanctions are in place, was unveiled in a joint press conference by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif after a ministerial meeting of the P4+1 – France, the UK, Germany, Russia, and China – on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
But it’s not just the EU which is trying to loosen its economic ties with the US. In the same vein, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also ordered his ministers not to receive any financial advice from the American consulting firm McKinsey, as his country is in an “economic war” with the United States.
The president told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Saturday that he called on the ministers that instead of receiving financial advice from McKinsey & Company, they should rely on domestic capabilities.
It was recently reported that Ankara was seeking advice from the New York-based global management consultancy firm to resolve economic hardships as inflation has recently been hiking with Turkish national currency lira, losing almost 40 percent of its value against dollar since the start of this year.
Erdogan said last month that Washington has launched an “economic war” against Ankara which “is no different from a direct strike against our flag.” He also called also on consumers to boycott American products.
