France, Germany taking charge of EU-Iran trade move but oil sales in doubt | Reuters

France, Germany taking charge of EU-Iran trade move but oil sales in doubt | Reuters:

France and Germany are to take joint responsibility for an EU-Iran trade mechanism to minimize the risk of U.S. punishment but few now believe it will cover oil sales, heightening fears for the fate of the landmark international nuclear deal with Iran.

Diplomats said the French-German gambit is a “safety-in-numbers” tactic to overcome the refusal of individual EU states to host the mechanism to sidestep the risk of being targeted by the revived U.S. sanctions regime against Iran.

But with U.S. threats of retribution for sanctions-busting unrelenting, they told Reuters that the goals of the nascent trade mechanism could be scaled back to encompass only less sensitive items such as humanitarian and food products.