European officials will "do everything" possible to protect the interests of companies working in Iran, which may now be exposed to new US sanctions against the country, an official in the French presidency said today.
Following President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions, European governments are going "to do everything to protect the interests" of their companies, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
French diplomats said Trump's decision, announced in a short address to the nation yesterday, was expected despite efforts by President Emmanuel Macron to sway the US leader.
"Of course this decision is a worry, there are tensions," a second official said.
"It will be difficult to maintain this agreement in these conditions but we will do everything to find a way to protect this multilateral framework."
"It was our responsibility to do it (lobbying Trump to stay in the agreement)," the first French official said. "And we did it with full knowledge of the facts."