FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani disembarks from a plane upon his arrival at the airport in Zurich, Switzerland.
Amid U.S. plans to re-impose sanctions on Iran, the European Union and heavyweight members Germany, France, and Britain on Monday expressed "deep" regret and vowed to protect Europeans doing "legitimate" business with Iran.
"We deeply regret the re-imposition of sanctions by the U.S., due to the latter's withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)" -- the formal name for the Iran deal -- said a statement issued by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini along with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, and British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Sunday it had held war games in the Gulf over the past several days, saying they were aimed at "confronting possible threats" by enemies, the state news state news agency IRNA reported.U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday that the United States believed Iran had started carrying out naval exercises in the Gulf, apparently moving up the timing of annual drills amid heightened tensions with Washington."This exercise was conducted with the aim of controlling and safeguarding the safety of the international waterway and within the framework of the programme of the Guards' annual military exercises," Guards spokesman Ramezan Sharif said, according to IRNA.The U.S. military’s Central Command on Wednesday confirmed it has seen increased Iranian naval activity. The activity extended to the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for oil shipments the Revolutionary Guards have threatened to block.Sharif "expressed satisfaction over the successful conduct of the Guards naval exercise, emphasising the need to maintain and enhance defence readiness and the security of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and to confront threats and potential adventurous acts of enemies," IRNA said.One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said possibly more than 100 vessels were involved in the drills, including small boats.U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the drills appeared designed to send a message to Washington, which is intensifying its economic and diplomatic pressure on Tehran but so far stopping short of using the U.S. military to more aggressively counter Iran and its proxies.Iran has been furious over U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme and re-impose sanctions on Tehran. Senior Iranian officials have warned the country would not easily yield to a renewed U.S. campaign to strangle Iran’s vital oil exports.But Iran did not appear interested in drawing attention to the drills. Iranian authorities had not commented on them earlier and several officials contacted by Reuters this week had declined to comment.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards says it held Gulf war games this week
"We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran, in accordance with EU law and with UN Security Council Resolution 2231," statement added.
Underscoring the significance of the Iran nuclear deal, the statement called it “a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture, crucial for the security of Europe, the region, and the entire world."
"The remaining parties to the JCPOA have committed to work on, inter alia, the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran's export of oil and gas. On these, as on other topics, our work continues, including with third countries interested in supporting the JCPOA and maintaining economic relations with Iran."
IranAir aims to take delivery of five more ATR turboprop aircraft, it said on Saturday, easing a state of limbo surrounding Western plane deals since Washington exited a nuclear sanctions pact between Iran and major world powers.Iran's flag carrier posted a picture on Twitter of five new ATR 72-600 planes outside the factory where they are built in Toulouse, France, and said they would soon arrive in Tehran.IranAir Chief Executive Farzaneh Sharafbafi was in Toulouse to receive the new planes, Iranian news agency IRNA said.ATR - co-owned by Airbus and Italy's Leonardo - has been pressing U.S. authorities to allow it to deliver aircraft it built for Iran under a deal to reopen trade links in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear activities.In the wake of that deal, IranAir ordered a total of 200 aircraft from Western planemakers including 20 from ATR.Scattered protests in Iran as US sanctions loomBut few have been delivered and U.S. President Donald Trump's decision in May to pull the United States out of the nuclear deal gives most companies until mid-August to complete ongoing business with Iran before new U.S. sanctions apply.Planemakers say they are unable to use this window because Washington has also revoked export licences needed by all Western planemakers due to their heavy use of U.S. parts.ATR - which had delivered 8 planes to Iran under the deal and started building another 12 - has been lobbying the U.S. Treasury to allow it to take advantage of the normal wind-down period for Iran business by giving it temporary new licences.Iranians take to streets in capital over economic woesATR declined to comment. Industry sources said the final number of planes to be delivered would be known in coming days.The U.S decision on Iran has raised question marks over whether ATR can reach a target of stabilising annual deliveries at 80 aircraft in 2018.The planemaker has said it will suffer financial damage if it cannot deliver the aircraft it has already produced following earlier U.S. approvals, and is looking for alternative buyers.Iran FM slams US sanctions on Turkish gov’t ministersAirbus said last month it would not attempt to deliver any more planes to Iran in the wind-down period. It has delivered just three of 100 ordered by IranAir.Boeing, which had sold 80 jets to IranAir under the 2015 nuclear deal, does not plan any deliveries. Unlike the European firms, it never placed the Iranian deal in its official order book on the grounds that it never received a deposit. 
IranAir says to get five more ATR regional planes before sanctions
The joint statement also stressed that "preserving the nuclear deal with Iran is a matter of respecting international agreements and a matter of international security."
In July 2015, the P5 1 group of countries -- the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany -- signed the nuclear deal with Iran.
In it, world powers agreed to lift some economic sanctions in return for Tehran agreeing to limit its nuclear activity to peaceful civilian purposes.
But on May 8, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his country's unilateral withdrawal from the deal, drawing condemnation worldwide.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Sunday it had held war games in the Gulf over the past several days, saying they were aimed at "confronting possible threats" by enemies, the state news state news agency IRNA reported.U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday that the United States believed Iran had started carrying out naval exercises in the Gulf, apparently moving up the timing of annual drills amid heightened tensions with Washington."This exercise was conducted with the aim of controlling and safeguarding the safety of the international waterway and within the framework of the programme of the Guards' annual military exercises," Guards spokesman Ramezan Sharif said, according to IRNA.The U.S. military’s Central Command on Wednesday confirmed it has seen increased Iranian naval activity. The activity extended to the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for oil shipments the Revolutionary Guards have threatened to block.Sharif "expressed satisfaction over the successful conduct of the Guards naval exercise, emphasising the need to maintain and enhance defence readiness and the security of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and to confront threats and potential adventurous acts of enemies," IRNA said.One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said possibly more than 100 vessels were involved in the drills, including small boats.U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the drills appeared designed to send a message to Washington, which is intensifying its economic and diplomatic pressure on Tehran but so far stopping short of using the U.S. military to more aggressively counter Iran and its proxies.Iran has been furious over U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme and re-impose sanctions on Tehran. Senior Iranian officials have warned the country would not easily yield to a renewed U.S. campaign to strangle Iran’s vital oil exports.But Iran did not appear interested in drawing attention to the drills. Iranian authorities had not commented on them earlier and several officials contacted by Reuters this week had declined to comment. Iran's Revolutionary Guards says it held Gulf war games this week