Total Cannot Resume Work In Iran Due To Risks Posed By US Sanctions - CEO

The French Total oil and gas company cannot resume investments in Iran amid the risks posed by the US sanctions even after the introduction of the EU initiative on facilitating trade with Iran, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2018) The French Total oil and gas company cannot resume investments in Iran amid the risks posed by the US sanctions even after the introduction of the EU initiative on facilitating trade with Iran, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.

Last week, the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said that the foreign ministers of the remaining signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) had agreed to create a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that would facilitate trade between European companies and Iran amid US sanctions against Tehran. Mogherini explained that the legal entity would be established to enable European companies to continue legitimate transactions with Iran in accordance with the EU legislation.

"The answer is no because we are in a world where one country was so easily imposing its law ... We cannot afford to take the risk to be banned from using the US financial system," Pouyanne said at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week forum, when asked whether the EU initiative would be enough to allow Total to return to investing in Iran.

The Russian Energy Week forum started earlier in the day in Moscow and will continue through Saturday. Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is the official media partner of the event.