The first round of renewed US sanctions will take effect on Tuesday after midnight US Eastern time with the harshest sanctions expected to return in early November. Washington is reinstating penalties that were lifted against Iran after unilateraly withdrawing from the historic nuclear deal sealed between Tehran and six world powers in 2015.
The European Commission has stated that despite US sanctions, European companies will continue doing legal business in Iran under the protection from Brussels.
“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, in accordance with EU law and with UN Security Council resolution 2231,” the European Commission stated on Monday.
"This is why the European Union’s updated Blocking Statute enters into force on 7 August to protect EU companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions," it added.
Brussels announced back in May that it would enable the Blocking Statute starting from August. The law was first adopted in 1996 and forbids EU companies from complying with the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions. It allows companies to recover damages arising from such sanctions, and nullifies the effect in the EU of any foreign court judgements based on them.
The Europeans are “committed to work on … the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran's export of oil and gas,” the EC added.
The bloc said that maintaining the nuclear deal with Iran is a “matter of respecting international agreements and a matter of international security.”
