Iran Nuclear Plant
Image: © Mohsan Kabiri-e Vaziri via Wikimedia Commons

The US isn’t budging on Iran sanctions

But the EU really wishes they would.

The US and the EU have been clashing on a lot of things recently. Today, it's been confirmed Iran is definitely still one of them.

What it means: Ever since 1979, the US has been imposing 'sanctions' on Iran – which basically means banning any kind of business exchange or trade with them. It started with just a few products and sectors, and became more and more comprehensive over the years, with other world powers (including the EU) joining in.

But back in 2015, six world powers struck a deal which said sanctions would be lifted if Iran stopped producing nuclear weapons. Almost immediately, companies from all over the world invested in Iran - French company Total started building a gas field, Norwegian firm Saga Energy launched solar power companies, Airbus started selling planes to IranAir, Siemens began constructing railways... the works.

Under Trump's administration, the US has said they're pulling out of this deal, reimposing sanctions on Iran. They say they want to create 'unprecedented financial pressure' on the country to entirely stop its nuclear production, and pull out of conflicts in other Middle Eastern countries.

The EU really doesn't agree with this idea, and is worried that EU companies will feel pressure to pull out so as not to be in the US' bad books themselves.

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