EU business leaders have said they are prepared to do everything they can to salvage the Iran nuclear deal in the event of a US withdrawal, as the Danish credit agency extended export guarantees to Tehran in the run-up to a showdown with Donald Trump.
The US president has reportedly decided to decertify Iran’s compliance with the landmark nuclear deal next week. On Thursday, he told a meeting of US military leaders that Tehran was not living up to the “spirit of the agreement” and cryptically added they were witnessing “the calm before the storm”.
If Trump decides not to continue certifying the deal it could unravel, but Europe’s business community hopes the economic benefits of the agreement would encourage Iran to stick to its commitments even if the US falters.
Speaking at the Europe-Iran forum in Zurich this week, Helga Schmid, the secretary general of the European External Action Service, reassured business leaders that the EU was committed to the accord, saying that “as Europeans we will do everything to make sure it stays”.