With US sanctions against Iran set to begin on Tuesday at midnight Eastern time, The European Union is looking to protect its companies from the unjust US actions. The EU is now enforcing the  Blocking Statute to firms operating in Iran.

The situation can be summed up like this: the US unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) despite that fact that both Iran and the EU partners were in full compliance with the agreement. The US alleged Iran had violated the deal, by having Israel present nonsense as evidence. The evidence was dismissed by the European signatories has partially fraudulent and partially old news.

In the view of many, the US has failed to harm Iran with the agreement and are thus looking for a new way to do damage to the country. Having pulled out of the deal new sanctions will be placed on the country starting Tuesday. To make matters worse, the US has decided to punish anyone who tries to do business in Iran – including European countries. The EU has refused to go along the sanctions the US are enforcing.

As a result, the EU is enacting a law called the Blocking Statute. The law was first created in 1996 and bars EU companies from complying with the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions. It allows companies to recover damages arising from such sanctions and nullifies the effect in the EU of any foreign court judgments based on them.

There is the question of the effectiveness of the law. It has never been used in practice and requires updating to include the US nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. The process of doing so would require the agreement of all 28 EU member states, which would take a long time.

The US is alienating European partners in favour of placing more pressure on Iran. Already Russia is selling off US debt in exchange for gold to avoid political blackmail because it’s the world’s trade and reserve currency. People in Iran are getting ready for the sanctions by selling off USD in favour of goal as well. Venezuela and China are resolving debts in oil as opposed to the common USD.

The world, it seems, is getting ready to retaliate against the US’s imperialist position in the world.