European leaders join forces after US pullout from nuke deal
CRUNCH TALKS Top diplomats of Iran, France, Britain and Germany set to meet on Monday to discuss next steps
: European governments are scrambling for ways to save billions of dollars in trade that could collapse because of US President Donald Trump’s decision this week to re-impose sanctions.
France’s finance minister said European countries should push back harder against the Trump administration over the Iran nuclear deal and not act as “vassals” to the US.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the US withdrawal from the Iran accord isn’t a reason to dump decades of trans-Atlantic ties altogether.
The back and forth on Friday came as thousands of Iranians took to the streets in cities across the country to protest Trump’s decision.
The top diplomats of Iran, France, Britain and Germany are expected to meet on Monday to discuss their next steps.
As a result of the new US sanctions, companies worldwide must stop doing business with Iran or risk US fines or other punishment. The sanctions will not only bar US companies from doing business with Iran, but they also will hurt foreign companies by prohibiting them from using American banks unless they cut links with Iran.
Planemakers Airbus and Boeing, oil companies and auto manufacturers like France’s Renault and Peugeot could be among companies hardest hit.
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said his country is pushing for exemptions for its companies but that he has “no illusions” about a generous American response.
Trump argued that the 2015 nuclear deal, which allowed for the lifting of sanctions, wasn’t tough enough on Iran.
Le Maire said Europe should not accept that the US is the “world’s economic policeman”.
“Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers?” Le Maire asked. “Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran?”
Merkel took a more measured tone. “This is a serious event, we have to say that, but it is not a reason to call into question the entire trans-Atlantic partnership,” she said on Friday in Muenster.
She acknowledged that it is uncertain “to what extent we can keep this (nuclear) agreement alive if a giant economic power doesn’t join in.”
Le Maire proposed creating a European body that would have the same kind of powers that the US justice department has to punish foreign companies for their trade practices.
European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region.
PARIS