Iran nuclear deal: The EU's billion-dollar deals at risk 11 May 2018 Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Messenger Share this with Email Share Image copyrightAFP Image captionFrance's Total signed a major gas production deal with Iran after sanctions were lifted The EU is scrambling to find ways to safeguard huge business deals with Iran, amid the threat of US penalties. Washington is re-imposing strict sanctions on Iran, which were lifted under the 2015 international deal to control the country's nuclear ambitions. On 8 May President Donald Trump denounced the deal, saying he would withdraw the US from it. Since the deal took effect in 2016 major European firms have rushed to do billions of dollars' worth of business with Iran, and now thousands of jobs are at stake. Many of those firms fear their business ties with the US could be at risk if they continue to do deals with Iran past a November deadline. What can the EU do? There is an existing EU "blocking statute", from 1996, aimed at countering US sanctions linked to communist Cuba. Now EU officials say they are revamping the statute to avoid the latest US restrictions on firms doing business with Iran. But there are doubts about the statute's legal power. Reuters news agency says Shell and some other European firms with big operations in the US prefer to push for US waivers on a case-by-case basis. US authorities have imposed hefty fines on banks for processing Iranian transactions, including UK-based Standard Chartered, HSBC and Lloyds. France, Germany and the UK all say they remain committed to the nuclear deal with Iran and to expanding business ties, provided Iran sticks to its commitments. Image copyrightAFP Image captionIranian-made Renault Logan cars went on sale in 2007 Read more on this topic: France condemns US over Iran sanctions The impact of Iran sanctions - in charts Winners and losers as Trump quits Iran deal Iran nuclear deal: Key details How big is EU-Iran trade? Before the imposition of punitive sanctions on Iran in 2012 the EU was its biggest trade partner. In 2011 Iran had a big trade surplus with the EU. Trade slumped in 2012, but has been climbing back up since the 2015 deal. EU exports to Iran in 2017 (goods and services) totalled €10.8bn (£9.5bn; $12.9bn), and imports from Iran to the bloc were worth €10.1bn. The value of imports was nearly double the 2016 figure. Most EU imports from Iran are energy-related - more than 75% is oil and other fuels. EU exports to Iran are mainly machinery and transport equipment, followed by chemicals. But trade with Iran makes up just 0.6% of the EU's total global trade. Iran's main trade partners are the United Arab Emirates and China, which account for 23.6% and 22.3% of the country's total trade, according to the European Commission. EU trade, by contrast, makes up 6% of Iran's total. What are the big deals at risk? Since the lifting of sanctions there have been major EU-Iran business deals, among them: Total (French) signed a deal worth up to $5bn to help Iran develop the world's largest gas field, South Pars Norway's Saga Energy signed a $3bn deal to build solar power plants Airbus clinched a deal to sell 100 jets to IranAir European turboprop maker ATR (an Airbus-Leonardo partnership) agreed to sell 20 planes to Iran Germany's Siemens signed contracts to upgrade Iran's railways and re-equip 50 locomotives Italy's state rail firm FS signed a $1.4bn deal to build a high-speed railway between Qom and Arak France's Renault signed a joint venture deal, including an engineering centre and a production plant, to boost Renault's production capacity in Iran to 350,000 vehicles a year
Did you look at the numbers and charts? Your comment is factually completely false. And please remind us who headed the administration between 2014-2016? Additionally job numbers clearly show that the economy picked up steam not too long after the financial crisis. What are you talking about?
I have no idea of where you were at that time or how old you were. That you seem to have never heard the term is quite surprising but here's a little info. https://www.stlouisfed.org/publicat...11/jobless-recoveries-causes-and-consequences
I certainly would not agree with that. I doubt that you can support that statement with anything other then anecdote or hearsay. but I am prepared to listen. The IAEA had Iraq exactly right. Their work there proved outstanding. And at 78 million per year versus 4 trillion.
A mistake clear and simple. The Obama administration made a number of big mistakes. Nothing in comparison to the Trump administration of course.
Let's stay on topic shall we? You brought up wage growth, I showed you that wage growth has stayed in a well defined range since at least 2011. You also alluded to hiring and employment numbers so I played along and also posted hard numbers that show that the current trend has been underway for years already during the Obama administration. You are now switching topic and allude to a different problem. The issue of corporates that they tend to higher an ever increasing share of part time and contract workers as percentage off the entire workforce is a problem and it is a problem regulators should grapple with. Has nothing to do with the previous or current administration.
This is, of course, one of the Western Power's goals behind the nuclear accord, viz., to bring Iran back into the Western orbit. I hope you don't mind my speaking the truth: You're an idiot!
There s something about this that suggests it was laundered at a St. Peterburg laundromat. Grid your loins!
1. The IAEA has no enforcement authority. It was the UN Inspectors office and not the IAEA that found out Iraq’s nuclear development program in the 1990’s. 2. The 1970 NPT is falling apart. There is no longer a meaningful nuclear proliferation deterrence. 3. India and Pakistan exploded nuclear weapons in the 1990’s - nothing happened. 4. Korea exploded nuclear weapons in the 2010’s - nothing happened. 5. Iran has had a military nuclear program in place for decades - contrary to what the IAEA had reported about Iran for decades.