Sputnik - The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance from the UK, Germany, and France have written to top U.S. officials, that they confirm their commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as Iranian nuclear deal, urging Washington to spare European business from secondary sanctions.




The politicians want to allow European enterprises to collaborate with Tehran, first of all, in such branches as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, power industry, civil aviation, infrastructure, and banking sphere.
"An Iranian withdrawal from the (nuclear agreement) would further unsettle a region where additional conflicts would be disastrous," the ministers stress in the joint letter, dated June 4, Addressed to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.


High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini also signed the letter.

Later in the day, European Commission stated, that it had updated the Blocking Statute and the European Investment Bank's (EIB) External Lending Mandate in order to, save the nuclear deal and to protect the EU companies, investing in Iran.
"Through the update of the Blocking Statute, the extraterritorial sanctions that the United States will re-impose on Iran are added to its scope, while the update of the EIB's External Lending Mandate would make Iran eligible for investment activities by the EIB," the statement read.


On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced that his country would withdraw from the JCPOA, adding, that he decided to reinstate the previously lifted sanctions on Iran. The unilateral move has been opposed by other signatories — Russia, China, and the European countries, which refused to leave the deal or impose sanctions on Tehran.