Speaking in St Petersburg, Russia, Emmanuel Macron said the US approach to the Iran nuclear deal was “not serious”, adding he was comforted by a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA ) once again confirming Iran was still abiding by the deal’s key restrictions on its nuclear facilities.
In further comments, Macron said: “Europe should have a stronger economic sovereignty. France envisages a compensation for French companies acting within the framework of treaties signed by France.”
The EU is studying three plans to protect trade with the Islamic republic of Iran – a legally untested blocking statute that renders any US sanctions on EU companies null and void, euro-denominated finance for companies from the European Investment Bank, and an EU equivalent to the US Treasury’s secondary sanctions regime.
Also speaking in St Petersburg on Friday, Russian president, Vladimir Putin, counselled against anything that resembled reopening the nuclear deal, and warned of the lamentable consequences if the nuclear deal collapsed.
Analysts say there is intense anger in some European capitals, notably Paris, at the unilateral tone of the US approach, especially the reimposition of sanctions. The premise of the nuclear deal – officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- was to let Iran rejoin the global economy, and lift sanctions against Iran, in exchange for limits on certain aspects of Iran's nuclear programme. The only EU country so far to support the US withdrawal from the deal is Poland.
The value of trade between the EU and the Islamic republic of Iran soared from $ 9.2 billion in 2015 to $ 25 billion in 2017.
