General Electric decided to suspend activities in Iran ahead of the US-set deadline for companies to wind up operations in the country facing re-imposed sanctions.
US President Donald Trump on May 8 pulled the US unilaterally from the nuclear deal with Tehran and announced the return of sanctions for the cleric-led country.
“GE has decided to suspend its activities in Iran ahead of a deadline set by the US authorities for companies to re-impose sanctions on Tehran after the United States withdraws from the Iranian nuclear deal,” a source told AFP.
The source said the US industrial group’s decision came in compliance with Washington’s request, which set a deadline of 180 days, that is, until November 4, for companies to cancel contracts concluded in Iran.
“We are adapting our activities in Iran, and we have to comply with recent changes in US laws,” a spokesman for the group reaffirmed.
“Our activities in Iran are still limited and are conducted in accordance with American policies and rules,” he said.
GE was one of few companies that received special permits or approval from the US Treasury to work with Iran after the partial lifting of international sanctions following the conclusion of the nuclear deal with Tehran in 2015.
The company was looking for new contracts in the oil field «Pars» South, which was supposed to employ the French oil giant ‘Total’ investment of $5 billion, in partnership with the National Oil Company of China, but the two groups of air industries ‘Boeing’ and Airbus that received billions of dollars in orders from Iranian air companies, will be most affected by the US embargo on Tehran.
Total said on Friday the probability of winning an exemption from US sanctions against Iran to continue its major project was very faint.
The energy giant had already warned that, unless Washington granted it a waiver, it would pull out of the South Pars 11 project which it started in July 2017, two years after Western powers signed a nuclear deal with Tehran prompting the return of many businesses to Iran.
Iran's oil minister on Wednesday gave Total 60 days to win a sanctions waiver from Washington before it would lose its stake in the multi-billion-dollar project.
But on Friday, Total's chairman Patrick Pouyanné told shareholders that the prospect of a sanctions exemption was dim.
"The probability of us getting an exemption is very slim", he said.
Total said earlier this month that it has USD10 billion of capital employed in its US assets, and US banks are involved in 90 percent of its financing operations, making Total highly vulnerable if targeted by any US actions.
By contrast, Total said it had spent less than EUR 40 million (USD 47 million) on the Iranian project, which it runs with its local partners CNPC and Petropars and which is dedicated to the supply of domestic gas inside Iran.
A withdrawal from the Iran project would not affect Total's current overall production targets as the group had since opened up other growth opportunities, it said.
