(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) Salman Aldosary - When Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero, it fell into a trap. The dangerous behavior of seizing the British tanker, as pirates do in the Horn of Africa, turned the European compass, which has long been neutral in the battle between the U.S. and Iran, towards an alignment with the U.S. stance. Britain immediately announced the formation of a maritime protection force led by Europe to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and London is working to urge the EU and UN to re-impose sanctions on Tehran, which were suspended in 2016. That is in addition to the freezing of Iranian assets in the UK. Thus, the international position against Iran is being reshaped and is no longer seen as a U.S.-Iranian conflict with Europe on the sidelines. The European countries have gradually entered the battle after watching from afar. The writer is the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.
2019-07-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive