FxWirePro: Daily Commodity Tracker - 21st March, 2022 
The United States is making it clear for the European Union; they are either with the United States or with Iran. Earlier this week, United States’ national security advisor John Bolton couldn’t be more than direct, “We expect the Europeans will see as businesses all over Europe are seeing; that the choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear to them.” He made it clear that President Trump wants maximum pressure on Iran and the pressures to remain until Iran checks on its activities in the region.
However, so far, the U.S. warnings seem to be falling into deaf ears as after Bolton’s comments, German foreign minister authored a piece in the German daily Handelsblatt that the European Union needs to build an independent payment system free of the U.S. influence to salvage the agreement.
On Thursday, the European Union has announced a €18 million in development aid to Tehran to pursue it to continue with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), better known as the Iran nuclear agreement. The EU will allocate eight million euros to Iran's private sector, including assistance for small- and medium-sized enterprises and the country's Trade Promotion Organization. Another eight million euros will be spent on environmental projects, and the rest two million euros will go into fighting harm caused by drugs. Thursday's aid offer to Iran is part of a broader package of 50 million euros earmarked for Tehran in the EU budget.
The aid was announced yesterday by the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to the agreement and determination in keeping the agreement alive without U.S. participation. The EU is currently working to maintain trade ties with Iran as the U.S. sanctions gradually come into effect.
So, the question remains, ‘will the EU heed the U.S. advice and act accordingly’?
So far, the answer is 'not likely'.
