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The announcement by CMA CGM of Iran's exit undermines Tehran's efforts to persuade European countries to maintain their businesses in Iran despite the threat of new US sanctions.
Iran says it needs more help from Europe to keep alive an agreement with world powers to curb its nuclear program. US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in May and announced new sanctions against Tehran. Washington has ordered all countries to stop buying Iranian oil by November and foreign companies to stop doing business there or face blacklists. the United States.
The European powers that still support the nuclear deal say that they will do more to encourage their companies to stay engaged with Iran. But the prospect of being banned in the United States seems to be enough to convince European companies to stay out of business.
The foreign ministers of the five signatory countries of the nuclear deal – Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia – offered a package of economic measures to Iran on Friday, but Tehran has stated that they do not go far enough.
"European countries have the political will to maintain economic ties with Iran on the basis of JCPOA (the nuclear agreement), but they must take practical measures on schedule," he said. Mr. Rouhani Saturday on his official website.
"WE APPLY THE RULES"
CMA CGM, which according to the United Nations operates the third largest container transport fleet in the world with more than 11 percent of the world's capacity, said it would stop service for Iran because he did not want to fall in the rules, given great presence in the United States.
"Due to the Trump administration, we decided to end our service for Iran," CMA CGM chief Rodolphe Saade said at an economic conference in the city. d & # 39; Aix-en-Provence.
"Our Chinese competitors are hesitating a bit, so maybe they have a different relationship with Trump, but we apply the rules," Saade said.
Shipping market leader A.P. Moller-Maersk of Denmark has already announced in May that he is retiring from Iran.
In June, French automaker PSA Group suspended its joint venture activities in Iran, and the large French oil company Total said it was unlikely to receive a waiver from the United States for continue its multi-billion dollar gas project.
Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said Saturday that the company had little choice.
"If we continued to work in Iran, Total would not be able to access the American financial world," he told RTL Radio. "Our duty is to protect the company, so we must leave Iran."
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh described the tension between Tehran and Washington as a "trade war". He added that this has not resulted in any changes in Iranian oil production and exports.
He also echoed Rouhani's remarks that the European package did not meet all the economic requirements of Iran.
"I did not see the package personally, but our Foreign Ministry colleagues who saw it were not happy with its details," said Zanganeh, quoted by the # 39; Tasnim news agency.
Some Iranian officials have threatened to block Gulf oil exports in retaliation for US efforts to reduce Iran's oil sales to zero. Rouhani himself has made a veiled threat in this regard in recent days, saying that there could be no oil exports from the region if Iran was closed.
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