The UK has agreed to work with the EU to try to block the impact of Donald Trump's new sanctions against Iran.
Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, signed a joint statement with other EU foreign ministers to ensure European companies doing business with Iran will be protected.
The ministers promised to introduce a "blocking statute" to ban European firms from abiding by the US sanctions, which were reimposed by Mr Trump on Monday.
The US president decided to reintroduce the penalties after withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama.
The European foreign ministers said the lifting of Western sanctions was "essential" to the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which involved Iran agreeing not to pursue development of nuclear weapons.
Mr Hunt signed the statement along with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and foreign ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian of France and Heiko Maas of Germany.
They said they "deeply regret" Mr Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions and argued that 11 consecutive reports bythe International Atomic Energy Agency confirm the Iran deal "is working".
The statement said: "It is a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture, crucial for the security of Europe, the region, and the entire world. We expect Iran to continue to fully implement all its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA.
"The lifting of nuclear-related sanctions is an essential part of the deal – it aims at having a positive impact not only on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of the Iranian people. We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran."
Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal 10 show all Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal 1/10 Iranian MPs burnt a US flag in parliament after Donald Trump announced America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 2/10 US President Donald Trump displays a presidential memorandum after announcing his intent to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House. Reuters 3/10 Some Iranian MPs reacted after Trumps decision by shouting 'death to America'. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 4/10 Iranian lawmakers prepare to burn two pieces of papers representing the US flag and the nuclear deal. AP 5/10 Iran said it will hold talks with signatories to the nuclear deal after Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord, which it branded "psychological warfare". AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 6/10 Several Iranian MPs stood chanting in the Tehran parliament. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 7/10 Iranian MPs burning a US flag AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 8/10 President Hassan Rouhani addressed the nation in a televised speech in Tehran. He said he'd send his foreign minister to negotiate with countries remaining in the nuclear deal after Trump's decision to pull America from the deal, warning he otherwise would restart enriching uranium "in the next weeks." Iranian Presidency Office via AP 9/10 Iran's press condemned Trump's withdrawal from a multi-party nuclear deal but was divided over whether Tehran should react with patience or withdraw itself. AFP 10/10 Trump announced the US withdrawal from what he called the "defective" multinational nuclear deal with Iran, and said Washington would reinstate sanctions against the Islamic republic. AFP/Getty 1/10 Iranian MPs burnt a US flag in parliament after Donald Trump announced America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 2/10 US President Donald Trump displays a presidential memorandum after announcing his intent to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House. Reuters 3/10 Some Iranian MPs reacted after Trumps decision by shouting 'death to America'. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 4/10 Iranian lawmakers prepare to burn two pieces of papers representing the US flag and the nuclear deal. AP 5/10 Iran said it will hold talks with signatories to the nuclear deal after Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord, which it branded "psychological warfare". AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 6/10 Several Iranian MPs stood chanting in the Tehran parliament. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 7/10 Iranian MPs burning a US flag AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency 8/10 President Hassan Rouhani addressed the nation in a televised speech in Tehran. He said he'd send his foreign minister to negotiate with countries remaining in the nuclear deal after Trump's decision to pull America from the deal, warning he otherwise would restart enriching uranium "in the next weeks." Iranian Presidency Office via AP 9/10 Iran's press condemned Trump's withdrawal from a multi-party nuclear deal but was divided over whether Tehran should react with patience or withdraw itself. AFP 10/10 Trump announced the US withdrawal from what he called the "defective" multinational nuclear deal with Iran, and said Washington would reinstate sanctions against the Islamic republic. AFP/Getty
The EU's Blocking Statue will come into effect on Tuesday and will allow European firms to recover damages incurred as a result of the US sanctions. EU companies will also be banned from complying with Mr Trump's sanctions unless they get special permission from the European Commission.
The foreign ministers said the statute would "protect EU companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions", adding: "Preserving the nuclear deal with Iran is a matter of respecting international agreements and a matter of international security."
Mr Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, has previously suggested the US could also impose sanctions on European countries that do business with Iran.
European leaders criticised Mr Trump after he walked away from the Iran deal, which he claimed did not prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.
Following the announcement in May, the leaders of the UK, France and Germany issued a joint statement expressing their "regret and concern".
Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel said:"Together, we emphasise our continuing commitment to the JCPOA. This agreement remains important for our shared security.
“We recall that the JCPOA was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council in resolution 2231. This resolution remains the binding international legal framework for the resolution of the dispute about the Iranian nuclear programme.
“We urge all sides to remain committed to its full implementation and to act in a spirit of responsibility.”
The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.
SlightlyOTT on August 6th, 2018 at 22:15 UTC »
This feels like it could get really messy really fast, US sanctions being so expansive is a big part of US soft power.
sadeqisaman on August 6th, 2018 at 20:04 UTC »
These past weeks have been absolutely horrible for us Iranians. Our currency's value plummeted so fast. It went from 40,000 rials for a dollar to 120,000 for a dollar in the span of a couple of weeks and the price of everything has increased. I'm lucky to be able to live in an upper-middle-class family by Iran's standards but I really don't know people who are not as lucky as I manage to buy their necessities. As an 18 years old college student in Iran, I have lost all hope in my future. The unemployment rate is unbelievable here. The country is full of people with college degrees from the top universities of Iran who can't find any job and Iran has the highest rate of brain drain in the world. So I guess what I'm trying to say is these sanctions have shown that they affect the people way more than the government and the government doesn't care enough about the people to be willing to negotiate with the US ( and to be honest the one time they did that, they were betrayed by how the US acted) and Instagram has been filled with people who are the sons and daughters of the government officials who are showing off their expensive cars and clothing and houses and have no empathy for the Iranian people.
edit: I'm gonna try and address some of the issues that are being addressed in the comments but these are just my opinions and they might be wrong:
first I'm seeing Trump getting blamed for all of this but I think Obama wasn't kind to us either. He is the one who imposed the sanctions in the first place and made us go through the same thing years ago but he did stay loyal to the deal so I'll give him that.
second, a lot of people are saying we should revolt and change the regime but it's really not that simple as demonstrated by the massive protests in 2009 that lead to nowhere and there are many reasons for that. 1- they're not afraid to kill and imprison protesters like I remember in 2009 the state news would ask people to send any videos taken during the protests so that they could identify and arrest the protesters 2- there is not a good and agreed upon alternative. many people protesting praise the former monarchy and long for the good old days which weren't really that good and want the son of the former Shah to become the new ruler, some are fighting for a republic and some don't even want the government to change they're just looking for reforms. 3- The Iranian people went through a lot during the last 4 decades:a revolution that failed and led us to where we are now, a devastating war with the whole world against us and backing Saddam who was killing innocent civilians which resulted in hundreds of thousands of people dead many of them still in school so I guess they're just tired and don't wanna go through a big thing again and can you really blame them?
third, some people are saying the things I described in my post actually show that the sanctions are working and my answer is if their goal is to make the Iranian people miserable then yes congratulations they couldn't have gone better.
fourth, a lot of people are saying how evil the iranian regime is, and i would say arguably US regime is just a sevil if not more but they're way better at hiding it.
I hope this can help your view of Iran and sorry for the messy post, I actually don't have a lot of experience speaking English and am not very political and I'm just a dumb 18-year-old kid who is willing to admit doesn't know anything about the world so don't take any of these too seriously
DC25NYC on August 6th, 2018 at 18:42 UTC »
Good.
Why should Iran be penalized for literally following an agreement only for it to taken away?
What does this say to other countries who try to make agreements/treaties with us?
"Hey, lets make an agreement but in the future we hold the right to pull out of that! We don't care if you held up your end of the bargain"