now you're just putting words in my mouth to make my position seem more extreme after I thought it strange that your measure of success was about private companies not being encumbered by sanctions.
I don't have a real problem coming to the table and thawing relations.
I just find the measure of European multinationals looking to get the same oil contracts as China and Russia a strange metric of success.
European companies were going to make a bunch of money okay...
While Iran continued interventions against Western allies throughout the world. While Iran met the letter of the agreement and not the spirit of it.
It's not as if Iran doesn't want those companies setting up right now.
This is of course the crux of the argument. Iran looked to have a deal related only to nuclear weapons and keep other interventions out of the larger agreement.
But that isn't really my point. I'm just wondering how your metric of companies setting up shop is a marker of success.
I apologise if you think I thought you extreme.
I don’t, I’m happy to make that clear.
And to be clear. The EU. And I hate to use that word. But Europe wasn’t trying to use oil as the revenue collector. They were talking Renault car plants. Mercedes car plants. Real investment. God knows what the uk could offer them. Maybe Some shortbread factories.
But that was on the table.
The big thing for the EU is the oil and gas pipe. The one that comes through
Qatar and goes through Estonia. and goes through Iraq.
We were offering stability and open commerce.
We were being modern.
Trump has fucked that now.
You might like the strong man approach. But it only works if there is a strategy.
You cannot say Trump, with his history of not having a strategy, and admitting strategy is for losers has a strategy.