France has vowed to fulfill plans to defy the US’ sanctions on Iran while increasing the international role of the euro in order to prevent Washington from acting as the world’s “trade policeman”.
France’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, told the British newspaper Financial Times that Europe is planning the formation of a special financial channel to Iran in order to keep trade flowing with the country and assure its own “economic sovereignty”, with the aim of making the euro as powerful as the dollar.
“Europe refuses to allow the US to be the trade policeman of the world,” Le Maire stated in an interview in Brussels, emphasizing that Europe must “affirm our sovereignty” in regards to the US sanctions on Iran and its wider economic hegemony.
After President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iranian nuclear in May, the European Union – along with Russia and China – remained committed to the agreement, and has insisted on defying the sanctions and facilitating trade with Tehran.
Cover photo: French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire addresses journalists in Paris, France on 31 October 2018
