Why are the Europeans playing tricks?

Iran seized a British owned oil tanker Stena Impero, with 23 personnel, in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. This was in response to the seizure of an Iranian tanker Grace 1 off the coast of Gibraltar earlier this month when British Royal Navy boarded the vessel in the early hours of the morning. Iran saw the "destructive" seizure as an act of "piracy" and vowed revenge. "Spain's acting foreign minister, Josep Borrell, said the United States had asked the UK to intercept the ship." "We have reason to believe that the Grace 1 was carrying its shipment of crude oil to the Baniyas Refinery in Syria," said Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar's chief minister. "That refinery is the property of an entity that is subject to European Union sanctions against Syria."  Iran also seized another British-owned Liberian-flagged tanker Mesdar but this was later released. Last year the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the nuclear deal, agreed in 2015 between the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany, known as P5+1, with Iran. Following withdrawal, US President Donald Trump imposed escalating sanctions on Iran to cut off its oil exports, banking, insurance and other businesses from international trade. Last month, Trump announced financial sanctions against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and "many others" after Iran shot down a US drone over its waters. The European Union (EU) and Britain have been against withdrawal from the JCPOA, arguing that this was the best way to keep Iran from making nuclear weapons. They set up a special purpose entity INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) to break sanctions and continue trading with Iran. "How does INSTEX facilitate trade with Iran without making sanctions-busting cross-border payments? In a word -- barter." wrote F Coppola. INSTEX matches the price of exports to Iran with imports and so avoids payments. Since it is backed by European governments it is seen as protection from US retaliation. When Iran violated the nuclear deal by crossing the threshold of enriched uranium it is allowed under the JCPOA the EU stayed silent. Only a few days back, "European foreign ministers held crisis talks Monday on saving the beleaguered Iran nuclear deal as Britain warned the 'small window' for success is closing and Tehran issued fresh threats of restarting its atomic program." If Britain and the EU are so desperate to protect the nuclear deal, capturing the Iranian tanker Grace 1 for violating some EU sanctions on Syria was pure chicanery. Four crew members, who are Indians, were arrested unnecessarily. Europeans like wars but if they precipitate hostilities in the Middle East with their trickery, their economy, which is not firing at all, will suffer badly. We should tell them to stop.