A senior diplomat said Monday it is up to European governments to create the conditions for their companies to do business in and with Iran after the US pulled out of the historic 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. “We expect the European countries to create the conditions for their companies to be protected by their respective governments and continue doing business with Iran,” said Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, the deputy foreign minister for political affairs, who also heads Iran’s team of experts in negotiations with Europe. Referring to recent remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron who said that it would be impossible to force companies to work with Iran and that France is unwilling to get into a strategic trade war with US, Araghchi added, “This is one of the issues that needs to be clarified. It is apparent that neither France nor Iran is capable to force the private sector to do anything, but it is possible to create the proper conditions which would encourage (EU) private enterprise to function [in Iran].” Iran is currently negotiating with the European parties to the nuclear deal, namely Britain, France and Germany, to get the necessary guarantees that would underpin Iranian interests enshrined in the nuclear agreement.
