British Official: US Sanctions Make Trade with Iran Difficult

A British official said on Wednesday that US sanctions against Iran will have a clear impact on other countries and make it very difficult to assess the level of risk for foreign companies operating in Iran. According to Reuters, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, withdrew from the nuclear agreement with Iran last week, under which some international sanctions against Iran were lifted in exchange for limiting its nuclear activities. The US President has imposed new sanctions on Iran that will prevent Iran from using the vital international banking network. Rona Fairhead, a senior official at the UK Department for International Trade, stated in the House of Commons: "It is clear that some of these sanctions also apply to non-American companies." She acknowledged that these sanctions will affect the transactions of other countries with Iran. In another part of her remarks, she said: "All companies and financial institutions must consider the commercial, legal, and financial risks of any contracts and transactions, and these sanctions have made risk assessment very difficult." Rona Fairhead added that the UK government provides essential guidance to British companies and institutions both in Iran and in the UK while working with other countries to maintain trade relations with Iran. She also said: "We are working directly with the European Union and at the same time with the US to protect the activities and transactions of British companies while encouraging the US to allow our trade relations with Iran to continue, as we believe this is very important." Foreign ministers of France, Britain, and Germany met on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss ways to preserve the nuclear agreement with Iran after the US withdrawal from the deal. However, they appear to be under pressure regarding the impact of the resumption of US sanctions on the activities of European companies in Iran.