Bloomberg - Europe will have no choice but to comply with U.S. sanctions on Iran, according to Javier Solana, a former NATO secretary general and early advocate of the nuclear deal abandoned by Donald Trump.

Solana, who was a long-time promoter of diplomacy with Iran as the European Union�s foreign envoy, said that the U.S.�s international financial clout means EU efforts to get around sanctions are doomed to fail.

�I wish I could say yes,� Solana said when asked if European moves to circumvent sanctions will succeed. Rather, the U.S. Treasury�s ability to sanction transactions carried out in dollars effectively kills those plans, he said in an interview in Madrid.

�The power of the U.S. today is not military, it�s the dollar,� said Solana, 76, who is now chairman of the Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics at ESADE business school in Madrid. �They squeeze you out.�

France and Germany are exploring ways to sidestep the penalties, with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire last month referring to work on �an independent European or Franco-German financing tool� to avoid falling foul of U.S. measures. Pressure is growing on Europe to act to save the accord, with U.S. sanctions against Iran�s oil industry set to come in from Nov. 4 and Iran telling the parties to the nuclear deal to come up with ways to offset the economic impact by then.

Solana pointed to French oil major Total SA�s decision to withdraw from the South Pars gas field after failing to secure an exemption from sanctions as evidence of the U.S.�s power to enforce extra-territorial measures.

�You have to cut off your relationship with the U.S. because they don�t allow your dollars to go through,� he said.

Total made a real effort to be in Iran after the lifting of sanctions, said Solana. �So if Total is leaving, imagine the smaller players.�

� With assistance by Ben Sills, and Jonathan Tirone