The ball is in Europe’s court to save Iran nuclear deal

While Tehran and Washington engage in a high-stakes game of brinkmanship in the Persian Gulf, the future of the Iran nuclear deal may end up being determined not by either of those parties, but by Europe.

In May, a year after the United States pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Tehran warned it would gradually decrease compliance with the deal. The posture shift was a reaction to what Iran perceives as the failure among the remaining parties – namely France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (the so-called E-3) along with Russia and China – to honor their economic commitments under the deal.

The fact that Iran is phasing its steps out of compliance – setting 60-day deadlines for each successive move such as going to higher enrichment levels – has raised hopes that Tehran could be

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