File Photo: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Austria
The United States has rejected a French request for waivers for its companies operating in Iran that Paris sought after President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Le Figaro.
Paris had singled out key areas where it expected either exemptions or extended wind-down periods for French companies, including energy, banking, pharmaceuticals and automotive.
French officials had expressed little hope for securing the waivers, which were critical for oil and gas major Total to continue a multi-billion-dollar gas project in Iran and for carmaker PSA Group to pursue its joint venture .
In preparing for his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump has provoked a rare agreement among Democrats and Republicans alarmed by the possibility of a cozy meeting.While Republican Trump has gone softer on Putin, calling him a "competitor" and "not my enemy" on Thursday, lawmakers from both parties hardened their warnings to Trump before he sits down with the Russian leader in Helsinki on Monday.Trump says May's Brexit plan kills hope of a US trade deal"Putin is not America's friend, nor merely a competitor. Putin is America's enemy — not because we wish it so, but because he has chosen to be," Republican Senator John McCain said."It is up to President Trump to hold Putin accountable for his actions during the meeting in Helsinki," McCain said in a statement. "Failure to do so would be a serious indictment of his stewardship of American leadership in the world.”Trump has touted the summit as an opportunity to reduce tensions, inflamed by Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, its military backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which turned the tide of the Syrian civil war in 2015, and accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.Twitter begins purging locked accountsU.S. lawmakers want Trump, both privately with Putin and publicly, to condemn Russia's actions.Congress has taken a hard anti-Russia stance, nearly unanimously approving last year a tough sanctions law targeting Moscow. But lawmakers worry Trump will fail to take Putin to task, particularly over the election meddling, which the Russian leader has denied.U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Moscow interfered and Trump has said he would discuss it, although he has stated both a willingness to believe Putin's denials and U.S. agencies. Trump has described a special counsel investigation into possible collusion between Trump campaign aides and Russia as a political witch hunt.Blast reported near Cairo’s international airport"Our goal must be to demonstrate to the world that the community of democratic nations does not intend to accede to Putin's or any other authoritarian's view of the world. We will resist Russia's aggression," Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in an op-ed in USA Today on Thursday.Senior Trump administration officials also have voiced fears about what he might give Putin to the detriment of allies in Europe, especially after seeing how Trump appeared to get only vague commitments from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their June 12 summit in Singapore to discuss denuclearization.White House orders greater access to files on FBI informantTrump declared that he had ended the nuclear threat from North Korea, but one senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "Who's to say he won’t come out of Helsinki saying he and Putin agreed that Russia no longer poses a threat to the rest of Europe?"'EASIEST' PART OF TRUMP TRIPWorries over Trump's commitment to European allies and his deference to Russia loomed large at the NATO summit that wrapped up on Thursday. Trump claimed a personal victory after telling European allies to increase their defense spending or lose Washington's support. He particularly railed against Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel.Trump took another swipe at U.S. allies when he told reporters in Brussels that he thought his meeting with Putin would be "the easiest" part of his week-long European trip.U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican, criticized Trump for saying that."The Russian president is a man schooled in treachery and espionage. He jails and murders his opponents, presides over a mafia state and he is an enemy of democracy. Why would a meeting with Putin be easier than a meeting with the allies that we rely on most to be a bulwark against him?" Flake asked in a Senate speech.Putin won re-election for six more years in March with opposition leader Alexei Navalny barred from running on what he says was a false pretext.Europeans and some U.S. officials are particularly concerned about whether Putin will ask Trump to suspend NATO military drills in the Baltic states on Russia's doorstep.Another senior U.S. official said that if Putin came away from the meeting with Trump thinking he had permission to act in the Baltics, Estonia might become the epicenter of what NATO has helped to prevent.Trump's assertion that Russia is a competitor and not an adversary is contrary to the judgments of U.S. intelligence agencies and his chief diplomat, Mike Pompeo, who at his April confirmation hearing to be Secretary of State, said the United States needs "to push back in each place we confront them," referring to the Russians.While Trump said on Thursday that he expects the Helsinki summit to be "just a loose meeting," some at home are hoping it will be a "non-event" with nothing groundbreaking."Based on just the way things are shaping up, I think a non-eventful Helsinki meeting might be best for our country," Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, told Reuters.
Trump says Putin 'not my enemy'
"We have just received Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's response: it's negative," Le Maire told Le Figaro in an interview published on Friday.
Le Maire said Europe needed to react quickly and protect its economic sovereignty.
"Europe must provide itself with the tools it needs to defend itself against extra-territorial sanctions," Le Maire added.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday urged North Korea and the United States to move forward on a pact to end Pyongyang's nuclear programme."If Chairman Kim (Jong Un) keeps the promise of denuclearisation, he will be able to lead his country into prosperity," Moon said in a speech during a visit to Singapore."This path is never easy, but if the agreements at the summit are implemented with sincerity, the goal can be achieved," he added, referring to Kim's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the wealthy city state last month.South Korea is willing to build an economic community with the North once the effort to root out Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions is completed, Moon added. Trump shares 'very nice' letter from North Korea's KimKim wants North Korea to be 'normal': South's leader
S.Korea's Moon urges North, United States to move forward on denuclearisation
Washington announced in May it was imposing new economic penalties on Tehran after pulling out of a multilateral 2015 agreement, under which Tehran had agreed to curb its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.
Trump's sanctions are aimed at pressuring Iran to negotiate a new agreement to halt its nuclear programmes that might include Tehran's regional activities and ballistics development. In particular, Washington wants to curtail the oil exports that are key to Iran's economic revival.
Earlier this month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appeared to threaten to disrupt oil shipments from its neighbours if Washington pressed ahead with trying to force countries to stop buying Iranian oil.