Mogherini: No Foreign Power Can Decide for EU-Iran Trade Ties

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini underlined that the EU will not allow any foreign meddling in Brussels’ legitimate trade relations with other countries despite the US attempts to kill the bloc’s business relations with Iran after its withdrawal from a 2015 multilateral nuclear deal.

"We are working, as a union of 28 member states and with the rest of the international community, to preserve a nuclear agreement that has so far been implemented in full, as certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 13 consecutive reports," Mogherini said.

She referred to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said, "JCPOA is delivering precisely on that purpose."

In relevant remarks in mid-December, Mogherini called for the EU states' commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action they have struck with Iran.

"Thanks to the nuclear deal, we now have new channels to engage in a constructive manner with Iran," Mogherini said, addressing a meeting with members of EU Non-proliferation Consortium.

She reiterated that in the absence of nuclear deal any negotiations with Iran would be much more difficult not easier.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced his country's withdrawal from the JCPOA. President Trump's move was followed by other parties' condemnation as well as emphasis to stay in the deal.

In response, Brussels updated EU's Blocking Statute to let the European enterprises to continue to work with Iran.

The Blocking Statute prohibits the EU companies' compliance with US sanctions and allows corporations to compensate for the loss inflicted on them.

source: FARS News Agency