Working through the UN would have put the US out in the cold. Forcing them to Veto any motion to censure due to breaking the prior motion.
Had Trump gone to the UN and challenged the decision and had Russia or China vetoed it, or had the US even been outvoted, Trump would have had a platform to act unilaterally. But he did not.
Leaving the UN Path open, by unilaterally declaring sanctions without first going back to the UN, would leave the US on the back foot and having to veto a motion against the US unilateral sanctions.
Eh? This is an irrelevant "What if" that never happened.
Trump woke up one day and decided to unilaterally reimpose US sanctions on Iran. He had no need to go to the UN or NAFTA or anyone else for that matter. The US, or indeed any other country, is well within its rights to impose its own sanctions on another country.
What the US is doing is attempting to (bully) force other countries to comply with US sanctions: No Sanctions (on Iran) = No Trade (with the US) - that is the line taken by Trump. The threat might not be illegal(?) but it is certainly outside the spirit of the law.
The EU, contrary to the thread title, is not encouraging companies to trade with Iran. It is simply telling companies of member states, and others, that no international laws are being broken if they choose to do so. At the same time it is also reminding member states that the EU still has some sanctions in place and that they remain in force (for EU members).
Trump does not like Iran and has made no secret of the fact. He does not like Iran's involvement in Syria, the Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. He certainly does not like Iran going up against his buddies in Saudi Arabia and their alliance against the Houthi rebels in Yemen who are supported by Iran. Maybe his sanctions issues are an attempt to cover up the atrocities carried out by the Saudi alliance.
