Mike Pompeo rejects EU appeal for exemptions in sanctions against Iran

[Wireless News]

http://l2.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/nL3FDKFrYAk.rvCRUWRbDg--/YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b247aD04Njt3PTEzMDs-/http://media.zenfs.com/en-GB/homerun/the_telegraph_258/d92a4360af21dd15d6e9730f110710be (https://www.yahoo.com/news/mike-pompeo-rejects-eu-appeal-160600529.html)Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, has rejected a high-level appeal from the EU for exemptions from sanctions against Iran, throwing into doubt billions of euros worth of trade. Senior officials from Britain, France and Germany had pleaded with the US not to impose sanctions next month on European companies which do business with Iran.Â- In a letter to the nations' finance and foreign ministers, Mr Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected the appeal, saying America wanted to exertÂ-"unprecedented financial pressure" on Tehran after President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in May.Â- Mr Pompeo added that the US will not ease the sanctions until it sees a “tangible, demonstrable and sustained shift’’ in Iran’s policies. “The president withdrew from the [Iran nuclear deal] for a simple reason - it failed to guarantee the safety of the American people,’’ Mr Pompeo and Mr Mnuchin wrote in a letter leaked to the press on Sunday night.Â- “We are thus not in a position to make exceptions to this policy except in very specific circumstances where it clearly benefits our national security.’’ The letter was a response to an appeal from the three European countries last month, in which they said they “strongly regretâ€� the US decision to withdraw.Â- Some of Europe's biggest firms rushed to do business with Iran after the nuclear deal was implemented in 2015 and last year the EU exported €10.8bn (£9.5bn) in goods and services to Iran. Â-Imports from Iran were also worth €10.1bn (£8.8bn). The other countries that reached the nuclear agreement with Iran - the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China - pledged to continue to honour the nuclear agreement to lift economic sanctions in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. However the US withdrawal may make that a practical impossibility. Iran has said it will stay in the deal if it still receives the economic benefits. The EU nations had sought a host of exemptions, including assurances that secondary sanctions on companies that deal with Iran would not be applied to EU businesses and individuals.Â- However, one EU diplomat said they had not realistically expected to get sanctions relief from the US, and a number of companies such as Peugeot and Total have already cut back their business with Iran for fear of jeopardising their business prospects in the US. The first set of US sanctions, which take effect on August 6, will target Iran's automotive sector, trade in gold and in other key metals. The remaining sanctions are due to come into effect on November 4 and will target Iran's energy sector, in particular its oil trade, and transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.



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