In announcing Iran’s partial break with the nuclear accord, President Hassan Rouhani set a 60-day deadline to get relief from punishing sanctions, promising to resume enriching uranium to a higher level than now allowed under the treaty if his demand goes unmet.
While Iran’s dispute is with the United States, which abandoned the nuclear treaty a year ago, Rouhani’s pledge puts European nations squarely in the middle of the standoff by insisting they defy the U.S. embargo on Iran. Europeans may now determine what course history takes in the Middle East.