German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran deal must not be taken as a reason to ' dump decades of trans-Atlantic ties altogether.
France, on the other side, pledged to push back against the threat of US sanctions against French companies doing business with Iran.
France's finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said that "it's time to European countries to open their eyes", stressing that they [European countries] must not act like "vassals" to the U.S.
"Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers?" Le Maire asked. "Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran?"
The statements made by European officials come as thousands of Iranian protestors took to the streets in several cities across the country to defy Trump's decision.
Billions of dollars in trade are at risk of total collapse in the wake of Trump's decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran.
As a result of the new U.S. sanctions, companies worldwide must stop doing business with Iran or risk U.S. fines or other punishment. The sanctions will not only bar U.S. companies from doing business with Iran, but they also will hurt foreign companies by prohibiting them from using American banks unless they cut links with Iran.
Source: Agencies
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/france-germany-want-to-stick-to-iran-deal-vow-pushback-against-u-s-sanctions/