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US-IRAN-FRANCE-BRITAIN-GERMANY-TRADE
France, Germany, Britain formally request exemptions from US Iran sanctions
PARIS, June 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – France, Britain, Germany and the EU on
Wednesday sent the United States a joint official request for their companies
to be exempt from punitive measures resulting from fresh US sanctions on
Iran.
“As allies, we expect that the United States will refrain from taking
action to harm Europe’s security interests,” said the letter to US Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said the three countries and the EU
were asking the US “to exempt European businesses doing legitimate trade in
Iran from all extraterritorial American sanctions”.
“Those businesses must be able to pursue their activities,” he wrote on
Twitter.
The plea comes as European leaders scramble to save the hard-fought deal
signed between Iran and world powers in 2015 under which Tehran agreed to
limits on its nuclear capacities in exchange for relief from crippling
economic sanctions.
US President Donald Trump announced he was abandoning the deal last month
— which will mean new sanctions on the Islamic republic and punitive
measures for those who trade with it.
Analysts say European firms which have rushed to invest in Iran after the
lifting of sanctions over the past three years have the most to lose from the
renewed sanctions.
Several major companies including France’s Total and the Netherlands’
Maersk have already said it will be impossible to stay in Iran once the
sanctions are fully reimposed over the next six months, unless they receive
explicit exemptions from Washington.
French automaker PSA said Monday that it would pull out of two joint
ventures to sell its cars in Iran to avoid the risk of punishing fines.
BSS/AFP/RY/1730 hrs