The EU says it will begin moves to block the effect of US sanctions on Iran as efforts to preserve the nuclear deal with Tehran deepen a transatlantic rift.
The decision comes as Russia and China take some of their most concrete moves yet to extend their economic influence in Iran, in the face of renewed US efforts to choke off Tehran.
US President Donald Trump last week controversially pulled Washington out of the 2015 international deal with Iran that placed limits on its nuclear program in return for easing economic sanctions.
European companies that invested in Iran after the deal are already taking fright, with French energy giant Total warning it could pull out, and Danish shipping giant Maersk and German insurer Allianz also saying they plan to wind down activities there.
After EU leaders discuss Iran at a Thursday meeting in Bulgaria, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker says the bloc would start measures on Friday to ease the effect of the US sanctions on European companies.
“We will begin the ‘blocking statute’ process, which aims to neutralize the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions in the EU. We must do it and we will do it tomorrow morning at 10:30,” Juncker says at the summit in Sofia.
— AFP
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