Defy Donald Trump and keep trading with Iran, France says

Both leaders made humiliating pilgrimages to Washington to beg Trump to stick with the Iran deal, only to see him withdraw – and on the eve of “Europe Day”, a public holiday for the European Union institutions.

Le Maire asked. “Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran?”

Donald “Art of the Deal” Trump demonstrated he can break ’em as well as make ’em by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

There’s a lot going on here so we’re going to try and explain this as simply as possible. France’s Foreign Ministry, in addition, vowed that Europe would fight new USA anti-Iranian sanctions. It also reiterated that the foreign minister is seeking “required guarantees” from the five other parties to the agreement as well as Iran’s other economic parties.

Notwithstanding the awful mistake of decertification, Trump can keep the deal on life support if he does not immediately reimpose the sanctions and gives the other five powers the time needed to work collectively with Iran and reach a new agreement-one that will chart a new course in the Middle East and potentially mitigate the multiple conflicts in which Iran plays a pivotal role.

Officials at the Department of Treasury, the Department of Commerce and the White House did not respond to a request for comment on the difficulty in managing oil curbs on Iran.

A decline in volumes due to the sanctions will add to upward pressure on oil prices, which have gained this year because of an OPEC-led supply cutting deal and strong global demand.

However, in the last three years, since the sanctions on Tehran were lifted by former U.S. president Barack Obama, India’s crude oil imports from Iran have almost doubled.

Imposing those cuts was hard, even with more geopolitical backing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed efforts to preserve the Iran nuclear deal and prevent an escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

“The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal of an agreement by the United States, to which they had themselves contributed”, he said.

This time, European leaders will be less helpful.

Her Democratic opponents, however, overwhelmingly expressed disappointment in USA withdrawal from the deal.

In the 12th meeting of the South Africa-Iran joint commission held in Tehran in 2016, South Africa condemned the US’s imposition of sanctions against Iran, saying it was irrational and illegal.

“With all of the places they’re involved, it’s bedlam and death and we can’t allow that to happen”, he said, adding: “They’ve gotta understand life”.

The 2015 agreement, which was negotiated by the Obama administration and included Germany, France and Britain, had lifted most US and worldwide economic sanctions against Iran.

“The fact is the inspections are and have been effective”, she said.

The sanctions which the withdrawal of the deal entails will not all be imposed immediately but be phased in over a ninety-day period.

On the other hand, unlike the situation during the Obama administration, trump is not enjoying the support of Moscow and Beijing on sanctions against Tehran.

The sanctions would target industries mentioned in the deal, including Iran’s oil sector, aircraft manufacturers exporting to Iran and Iranian government attempts to buy U.S. dollar banknotes. The sanctions also limit foreign companies from dealing with Iran by prohibiting them from using American banks in their operations if they do not sever links with Iran.

Another key priority will be to set a clear requirement for the lifting of sanctions.

North Korea remains technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a ceasefire rather than an armistice, and Pyongyang has long insisted that it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself from a possible U.S. invasion. This time there’s less clarity, Hochstein said. “At least before it was toward a specific end”.

“We’re doing nothing”, said the head of trading at another European refiner.