German Foreign Minister: Protecting German Companies Against US Sanctions is Difficult

The German Foreign Minister stated that although the country seeks to assist German companies engaged in trade with Iran, protecting these companies from the damage caused by the re-imposition of US sanctions against Tehran will be challenging. Simultaneously, the French Foreign Minister described the extraterritorial nature of US sanctions against Tehran as 'unacceptable' and emphasized that Europeans should not bear the costs of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA. On Tuesday, May 8, US President Donald Trump announced the country's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran and six world powers, ordering the reinstatement of sanctions that had been suspended under the JCPOA. These sanctions include foreign companies engaged in trade and transactions with Iran and, according to the US Treasury Department, will gradually become active over a 90-day and 180-day period. Germany, along with France and Britain, has stated that it will remain committed to the nuclear agreement, and the foreign ministers of these three countries involved in the JCPOA are set to meet with the Iranian Foreign Minister in Brussels in two days to discuss the future of the JCPOA's implementation. On Friday, the French Finance Minister emphasized the need for European independence from the United States and announced his country's proposals to the European Commission to protect European companies trading with Iran. However, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Bild newspaper that there is no simple solution for protecting companies against the risk of US sanctions. In this interview published in the Sunday, May 13 edition of Bild, Maas added that discussions are ongoing with Europeans, Iran, and other parties involved in the JCPOA about how to continue trade with Iran. The German Foreign Minister reminded that Europeans want to ensure that Iran continues to comply with the regulations and limitations outlined in the JCPOA, and Iran is also ready for dialogue. It is clear that there is also an economic incentive for dialogue, which will not be easy to secure after the US decision. The German Foreign Minister's remarks came a day after the new US ambassador to Germany predicted that the new sanctions on Tehran would not lead to a 'trade war' between the US and Europe, noting that Donald Trump is only seeking 'a level playing field' and that the US government is awaiting European proposals to mitigate the negative impact of sanctions on foreign companies. On Sunday, the French newspaper Le Parisien reflected the French Foreign Minister's statements, in which the sanctions and extraterritorial measures of the US were described as 'unacceptable.' Jean-Yves Le Drian emphasized that European countries should not pay the price for the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement. He added that the US would also be affected by the reinstatement of sanctions and that Europeans would take necessary actions to protect their companies' interests and would negotiate with Washington in this regard. Regarding potential measures by the European Union, as mentioned by the Finance Minister on Friday, Europeans are working on three specific proposals, one of which involves updating the European blocking statute established in 1996 that allows for countering extraterritorial sanctions. This regulation, which was enacted to circumvent Cuba sanctions, allows European companies and courts not to comply with sanctions from third countries and stipulates that rulings issued by non-European courts are not enforceable within the Union. The other two proposals include efforts for the EU's financial independence from the US and the establishment of an office similar to OFAC in the EU to review the activities of foreign companies and their compliance with the Union's decisions.