Europe went from leading Iran diplomacy to slavishly following US

There was a time when Europe was serious about diplomacy — diplomacy as the patient, often frustrating business of engaging adversaries, rather than merely issuing condemnations and imposing sanctions.Ten years ago, on October 25, 2016, the European Parliament adopted a report on relations with Iran that embodied precisely this understanding of statecraft. Drafted under the leadership of British MEP Richard Howitt, it offered a forward-looking strategy for engaging Tehran following the conclusion of the 2015 nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – a diplomatic achie