PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Foreign Minister said on Thursday that the European Union has made some progress on measures to protect the bloc’s companies from U.S. sanctions on Iran but these were still insufficient. “We have moved forward on one point, which is the implementation of a European rule that dates from 1996 which we […]
Afghanistan is at risk of become an unintended victim of the Donald Trump administration’s sweeping sanctions against Tehran, announced as part of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in early May. A major port complex is being developed on Iran’s southern coast that is set to provide a transport corridor to Afghanistan, granting the landlocked country new […]
Iran is still implementing the 2015 accord over its nuclear program, according to a report by the UN’s nuclear watchdog. The International Atomic Energy Agency report, seen by AFP, shows that Iran is abiding by the deal’s key restrictions on its nuclear facilities. The latest assessment from the IAEA comes weeks after US President Donald […]
PARIS (Reuters) – French carmaker PSA Group launched its Citroen C3 model in Iran last week despite Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Tehran, brand chief Linda Jackson said on Thursday. PSA, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, sold 2,000 C3 subcompacts in one hour on launch day, Jackson said, adding that the […]
Efforts by world powers to salvage the landmark nuclear deal with Iran pick up on Friday in Vienna, where officials will meet for the first time without U.S. diplomats present. Russia, China, the U.K., France and Germany will discuss the economic incentives Iran needs to keep caps on its nuclear work in place, according to officials who’ll […]
ran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s highest authority, delivered his most significant speech regarding the United States’ withdrawal from the nuclear deal between Iran and the five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. In the May 23 speech, delivered two days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made 12 demands of Iran, Khamenei presented his own […]
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday that the United States risks further destabilizing the Middle East after Washington warned Iran faced the “strongest sanctions in history.” “The sanctions to be launched against Iran will not foster dialogue. On the contrary, they will boost the importance and power of Iran’s conservatives and weaken president […]
The U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement between Iran and the EU/E3+3 constitutes a strong rejection of multilateralism by the Trump administration and leaves the remaining parties of the agreement with the challenge to safeguard its survival. Europe has been ascribed a leading role in this quest, as it has arguably a much greater stake […]
Austrian energy group OMV said on Tuesday it had not halted its planned Iranian energy projects despite the U.S. withdrawal from an international nuclear agreement, but it had made no investments there yet. The group was monitoring political developments in the United States and the European Union very closely, said upstream chief Johann Pleininger at […]
The EU’s foreign policy chief warned Monday there was “no alternative” to the Iran nuclear deal, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed unprecedented sanctions against Tehran following Washington’s withdrawal from the pact. Pompeo—a longtime Iran hawk and fierce opponent of the 2015 agreement earlier Monday outlined an aggressive series of “painful” measures designed […]
A new open letter calls upon the European Union to “discharge its international obligations” and ensure that “Iran and its people enjoy the full economic and political dividends” of the nuclear deal, despite President Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the agreement earlier this month. Over 150 figures have signed the letter so far, including some of […]
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to quit a multinational nuclear deal would not affect Tehran’s oil exports if the EU could salvage the pact. “Every new decision in OPEC needs unanimity… I believe that if the European Union helps us… the level of […]
Chinese state-owned oil company CNPC will replace Total on a major gas field project in Iran if the French energy giant pulls out over renewed US sanctions against Tehran, Iran’s oil minister has said. “Total has said that if it doesn’t get an exemption from the United States to continue its work, it will begin […]
The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union trade bloc signed an interim trade deal with Iran on Thursday and plans to negotiate a free trade zone, said Kazakhstan which hosted the talks. The agreement signed in the Kazakh capital Astana comes as the United States is snapping economic sanctions on Tehran back into place and warned companies […]
The EU will on Friday begin moves to block the effect of US sanctions on Iran in the bloc, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said, as part of efforts to preserve the nuclear deal with Tehran. “We will begin the ‘blocking statute’ process, which aims to neutralize the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions in the […]
Speaking on Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington D.C. think tank, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné faced several questions about his company’s recently announced decision to wind down operations in Iran following the reapplication of secondary sanctions by the Trump administration. With his trademark candor, Pouyanné left no doubt that Total was obligated to […]
European Union leaders agreed on a “united EU approach” to keeping the Iran nuclear deal alive after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact, a European source said after talks in Bulgaria. The 28 EU leaders also backed a plan for dealing with trade tariffs that Trump is imposing on European metals, saying that […]
Iran plans to sign a $1.16 billion agreement with the U.K.’s Pergas Resources International Ltd. to work on a southern oil field, marking the Persian Gulf nation’s first energy venture with a foreign company since U.S. President Donald Trump ripped up the Iran nuclear deal. London-based Pergas and state-run National Iranian South Oil Co. will […]
President Donald Trump’s hard exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was followed by a hard message for Europe: The United States will use sanctions to coerce its allies to shut their economic doors to Iran. Trump not only chose to violate a multilateral agreement, but his administration now aims to implode it by obstructing […]
EU chief Donald Tusk hit out at US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, accusing Washington of “capricious assertiveness” in abandoning the Iran nuclear deal and imposing trade tariffs on Europe. “Looking at the latest decisions of President Trump, someone could even think with friends like that who needs enemies,” Tusk told reporters in the Bulgarian capital […]
President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal and reinstate all U.S. sanctions won’t deliver punishing economic pressure capable of forcing Iran to submit to Washington’s policy demands. Along with diplomatic furor and a blow to nuclear arms control, the move also comes with damning unintended economic consequences for […]
The European Union on Tuesday launched work on a nine-point economic plan to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive after the abrupt withdrawal of the United States. Europe is scrambling to come up with ways to persuade Iran to stick with the landmark 2015 agreement despite US President Donald Trump ditching it a week ago. […]
Iran’s foreign minister is due to land in Brussels later Tuesday on the final leg of a global tour rallying diplomatic support for the country’s nuclear deal after the Trump administration’s abrupt withdrawal. Mohammad Javad Zarif will meet with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany—the three European nations involved in the landmark deal who […]
US President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has created an urgency for all other deal signatories to work toward saving the accord. As international companies face a new dynamic and risk profile, innovative steps will need to be taken to sustain the deal, especially in response to Iranian […]
European powers alarmed by Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord set out this week on an urgent search for ways to hold the deal together and avoid a further escalation of violence in the Middle East. With Chancellor Angela Merkel warning that faith in the international order is at stake, Germany, France and […]
Iran’s foreign minister said Sunday he was hopeful of forging a “clear future design” for the nuclear deal facing collapse after Washington’s withdrawal, at the start of a diplomatic tour aimed at rescuing the agreement. “We hope that with this visit to China and other countries we will be able to construct a clear future […]
WASHINGTON — While many hands gripped the sword that undercut the Iran nuclear deal, no one outside the Trump administration was a more persistent or effective critic than Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of a hawkish Washington think tank. But rather than publicly celebrate President Trump’s decision Tuesday to jettison the accord, he is mourning […]
While Russia has condemned Washington for its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Moscow remains less exposed to the economic consequences of US sanctions than Europe and its companies could even benefit from the move. “The deal and the lifting of sanctions in 2015 marked the return of European business to Iran. But it’s unlikely […]
France’s foreign minister on Thursday condemned the United States for reimposing sanctions against foreign companies trading with Iran, labeling the move “unacceptable” in comments that expose the deepening rift between Washington and its European allies on the issue. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of a landmark deal curbing Iran’s […]
awks on Capitol Hill are preparing to go head-to-head with European countries that intend to continue business with Iran in the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose all related U.S. sanctions. Several congressional offices are mulling an external memo, obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD, which […]
ANKARA (Reuters) – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to quit a multinational nuclear deal would not affect Tehran’s oil exports. “Trump’s decision will not have any impact on our oil export … that era is history now,” he told state television. Trump announced a U.S. withdrawal […]
In Iran, the housing sector — which accounts for a hefty 35% of all household expenses — has since 2011 been in the grip of its worst recession in recent history. Indeed, it was the only sector not to rebound after sanctions were lifted with the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in January 2016. But […]
Despite months of E3-US negotiations to avert an unnecessary crisis over the Iran nuclear deal, President Trump has declared a hard exit from the nuclear agreement. The decision demonstrates that the US has decided that confrontation with Iran is both necessary and inevitable, regardless of what European allies think. The US administration looks set to […]
French President Emmanuel Macron and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani agreed on Wednesday during a phone call to work toward “the continued implementation of the nuclear deal” despite the US decision to withdraw from the agreement, the French presidency said. “The French and Iranian presidents agreed to pursue their joint efforts with all nations involved, with the […]
European Union officials will seek exemptions for European companies from sanctions the U.S. plans to impose on Iran, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The EU in its bid to save the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and six other countries will have to convince European companies including French oil producer Total SA FP, -0.21% and defense contractor Airbus SE AIR, -1.52% to […]
President Trump has violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and withdrawn from a landmark arms control agreement that enjoyed broad international support. Crucially, he did so more decisively than many expected. In his televised announcement on Tuesday, Trump clearly relished the opportunity to follow through on his campaign promise to “rip up” the Iran […]
Iran said it will hold talks with signatories to a nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump’s decision Tuesday to withdraw from the accord, which it branded “psychological warfare.” President Hassan Rouhani also said Iran could resume uranium enrichment “without limit” in response to Trump’s announcement. He said he would discuss Iran’s response with the […]
Donald Trump didn’t kill the Iran nuclear deal. He just shrank its membership by one. That was the line taken by the European Union immediately after the U.S. president announced his withdrawal from the 2015 accord. Germany, France and the U.K. all said they’ll stick to their commitments. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said […]
A former Iranian diplomat believes that if the US exits from the JCPOA without the UN Security Council and the Joint Commission under the agreement dealing with Iran’s complaints, Iran can subject its membership in the JCPOA and NPT to the full implementation of the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement. On 12 May, Donald Trump will […]
For much of Iran’s political elite, and its overwhelmingly young population, the nuclear deal is becoming a story of failure. This situation risks impacting on Tehran’s willingness to engage politically and to reach diplomatic compromises with Western powers. Last week European leaders were in Washington for a last push to keep the United States on […]
Iran is seeing bumper oil exports. But that doesn’t mean production is on a similar trend. OPEC’s third-largest producer ramped up exports in April to the highest since sanctions were eased more than two years ago. The jump came just weeks before a U.S. decision on whether to pull out of the global deal that […]
Turns out Mark Mobius isn’t one for retirement. Less than four months after leaving Franklin Templeton Investments, the 81-year-old has set up a new asset management firm to invest in emerging and frontier markets. Mobius Capital Partners LLP has yet to line up outside investors and wants to raise about $1 billion within two to […]
Israel began sharing an intelligence trove on Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions Tuesday, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced accusations his televised unveiling of it lacked evidence a 2015 accord had been violated. The IAEA, the United Nations atomic watchdog, said it would evaluate any new relevant information, but cited its assessment from three years ago […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday reiterated that all sides should continue to uphold the Iran nuclear agreement, and that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said many times Iran is in compliance with the deal. Speaking at a daily news briefing, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had noted reports about […]
The UN’s nuclear watchdog reiterated Tuesday it had “no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device after 2009”, citing its assessments from 2015. A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that its board of governors had “declared that its consideration of […]
Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of lying “big time” about its nuclear program. In a theatrical announcement Monday, the Israeli prime minister presented files and CDs that he claimed show Tehran hid secret nuclear plans after signing the multinational 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement. In response to Netanyahu, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad […]