US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s statement on Monday put an end to bargains. Officially, Washington has begun its war on the Iranian regime. The weapons of economic sanctions threaten the entire regime and do not only restrain it.

 

The French Total left the gas fields in the Gulf and moved on. Head of the Italian company ENI told the company’s board that they shut down their offices in Tehran and stopped searching for oil and gas. Airbus signed a contract to sell Iran 100 airplanes and only three jets arrived in Tehran’s airport as part of this historic deal which the company announced its cancellation. A Norwegian solar energy company left Iran last week and there are four years left on the contract. Other big companies also fled Iran like the German Siemens, the Italian Danieli company which supplies equipment to the metal industry and Maersk Line, a container shipping company. Dozens of European companies rejected the Iranian temptations to stay in Iran out of fear of the Trump administration which warned that whoever does not stop dealing with Iran during the next 180 days will be prohibited from dealing with the American market.

 

Why do European and giant companies feel afraid? It’s simply because they have greater interests with the US, and as for those who do not care about the American market, prohibiting Iran from dealing with the dollar will subject them to bankruptcy.

 

A new reality for Tehran

The attempts of European governments, which promised they will continue to deal with Iran on the economic front as part of their commitment to the JCPOA agreement, to protect their companies’ contracts failed. Almost all big companies which made deals with Iran are withdrawing quickly despite the possible losses they may suffer.

 

Total’s contract, which is very important for the Iranian oil and gas industry and which Tehran has greatly relied on, is proof that Europe’s politicians do not dictate their decisions on their companies and will not be able to stand in Washington’s face. Tehran, of course, will also completely fail in the confrontation against the US.