European companies will be protected from U.S. sanctions triggered by President Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA, the European Commission president said.

Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday there was a unified position in Europe that respecting the U.N.-backed agreement with Iran was essential for peace. The agreement, ratified by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Germany and Iran, gives Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for commitments to scale down its nuclear research program.

So long as Iran upholds its end of the bargain, European powers will stay in the deal, Juncker said. U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to renege on the agreement, meanwhile, would reinstate Iranian sanctions. Those sanctions could spill over to European companies willing to do business with Iran.

"So we have the duty, the commission and the European Union, to do what we can to protect our European businesses, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises," the European president said in a statement.

Without relief, French supermajor Total said this week it would have to leave Iran. Speaking Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S. think tank, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said the U.S. decision could put the advantage in the hands of U.S. adversaries.

"What would be not good neither for the U.S., nor for Europe, is if that at the end only Russia and China can do business in Iran," he said.

Total in July signed a contract with a Chinese partner related to phase 11 of the South Pars gas field off the coast of Iran. The terms at the time were in compliance with European, French and U.S. legislation, but the French company said the situation has changed.

In broader terms, the U.S. decision to leave the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is indicative of a growing rift in its relationship with Europe. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, this week signaled the historic alliance with the United States was unraveling with Trump at the helm.

"With friends like that who needs enemies," he stated.

Juncker said Friday that by Aug. 6, when the first set of U.S. sanctions go into force, European companies will be protected by blocking statutes that allows them to recover damages and nullifies the effect of any judgment imposed by a foreign court.

In the energy sector, the European Commission stated that Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias would head to Tehran for the weekend as a confidence-building measure.

"The commission is encouraging member states to explore the possibility of one-off bank transfers to the Central Bank of Iran," the European body stated. "This approach could help the Iranian authorities to receive their oil-related revenues, particularly in case of U.S. sanctions which could target EU entities active in oil transactions with Iran."

Iran wary as EU presents plans to save nuclear deal
Tehran (AFP) May 19, 2018 - Iran said Saturday it would wait to see whether Europe produces tangible results in overcoming US sanctions before it decides whether to stay in the nuclear deal, as a top EU official visited Tehran to present plans for maintaining trade ties.

"The ball is in the court of the EU. They have presented different proposals, we will see if they materialise," said the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi.

He was speaking after meeting European Union Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, the first high-level Western official to visit Iran since the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers earlier this month.

Canete called the nuclear deal "fundamental for peace in the region" as he outlined EU plans to continue oil and gas purchases and protect European companies from US sanctions as they are phased in over the next six months.

He also had detailed talks with Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on practical solutions, which he said included plans for direct payments between central banks and state-backed insurance for shipments.

A group of experts later met their Iranian counterparts to hash out the details.

Zanganeh said there were no plans to change Iran's pattern of oil exports, which amount to 3.8 million barrels per day, with 70 percent going to Asia and 20 percent to Europe.

Salehi acknowledged Europe's efforts to protect trade but said: "We want tangible results, otherwise we take our own decisions. I personally don't want to see such decisions being taken."

Iran has threatened to resume industrial uranium enrichment "without limit" unless its interests are preserved by the remaining parties to the deal, which also include China and Russia.

Salehi said the Iranian people had lost trust in the nuclear agreement and that if trade benefits were not protected "they will lose more confidence... and we will be forced to leave."

- EU firms eye exit -

Despite vows by European leaders to protect EU firms from US sanctions, several companies -- including France's Total and Holland's Maersk -- have already said it will be impossible to stay unless they receive explicit exemptions from Washington.

"For sure there are clear difficulties with the sanctions," Canete said at a press conference alongside Salehi.

"We will have to ask for waivers, for carve-outs for the companies that make investments."

Canete was due to meet Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday.

Iran's trade with the European Union is around 20 billion euros, evenly split between imports and exports.

Oil accounts for some 90 percent of EU imports from Iran, going primarily to Spain, France, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Germany.

Iran has the world's fourth-biggest oil reserves and second-largest gas reserves.

But it has only finalised two major energy deals since the sanctions were lifted: Total's $4.8-billion South Pars 11 project with the China National Petroleum Corporation, and a $740 million deal with Russia's Zarubezhneft to develop the Aban and Paydar oilfields.

Analysts say Iran's hardliners remain wary of foreign involvement in the energy sector, and the Revolutionary Guards have sought to maintain their privileged position in major projects -- delaying negotiations with Western firms.

Russia and China are less vulnerable to economic pressure from Washington, and analysts say they could benefit from Europe's difficulties in Iran.

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Iran's Zarif says EU meetings must be turned into action
Tehran (AFP) May 16, 2018
Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that meetings with EU leaders on salvaging the nuclear deal sent a strong political message but must now be turned into action. "If the JCPOA (nuclear deal) is supposed to continue, it was a good start and it has sent an important political message, but this is not the end of the work," Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters on his flight back to Tehran, according to state news agency IRNA. "From next week, intensive expert meetings will start in Europe. They ... read more