Washington has persuaded French and German companies to give it billions of dollars in payoffs, so they could be allowed to continue doing their legal business with Iran in light of the United States' reinstated unilateral sanctions against the Islamic republic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2019) Washington has persuaded French and German companies to give it billions of Dollars in payoffs, so they could be allowed to continue doing their legal business with Iran in light of the United States' reinstated unilateral sanctions against the Islamic republic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
"What are the losses only incurred by companies and banks of France and Germany for the fact that they cooperated with Iran, without breaching any international rules or their own legislation, but by violating US law? The payoffs that Americans have forced them to pay for such violations of their laws amount to many billions," Lavrov said at a meeting with members of the International Council for Cooperation and Investment in Moscow.
The minister, however, stressed that "it's not about the numbers."
"The main thing is that mutual trust is being undermined, and this hinders long-term economic planning," Lavrov clarified.
Last year, the United States withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reinstated wide-ranging sanctions on Tehran, including secondary sanctions against companies and financial institutions of countries that do business with Tehran. Washington also vowed to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero and demanded that others countries stop any such sales.
