WASHINGTON: Volkswagen has bowed to American pressure stemming from the US rejection of the multi-party nuclear deal and will end almost all business in Iran, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.
The accord was reached Tuesday after weeks of talks between the German auto giant and the administration of President Donald Trump, said Richard Grenell, the US Ambassador to Germany, according to Bloomberg.
VW will still be able to do some business in Iran under a humanitarian exception, Bloomberg added.
In May, Trump pulled the US out of the deal it reached with Iran and five other countries in 2015. That accord lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
Now, the US is reimposing those sanctions.
Bloomberg said VW has scrapped plans it announced in July last year to sell cars in Iran for the first time in 17 years.
VW to stop doing business in Iran: Bloomberg
VW to stop doing business in Iran: Bloomberg
- VW will still be able to do some business in Iran under a humanitarian exception
- VW has scrapped plans it announced in July last year to sell cars in Iran for the first time in 17 years
QatarEnergy announces force majeure following Iran attacks: statement
DOHA: Qatar’s state-run energy firm on Wednesday declared force majeure following attacks on two of its main facilities that halted liquefied natural gas production and as Iran pressed missile and drone attacks across the Gulf.
“Further to the announcement by QatarEnergy to stop production of liquefied natural gas and associated products, QatarEnergy has declared Force Majeure to its affected buyers,” the company said in a statement.
QatarEnergy invoked the clause, which shields it from penalties and potential breach of contract claims from clients, after stopping LNG production on Monday.
Iranian drones attacked two of the company’s main production hubs in Ras Laffan Industrial City, 80 km north of Doha and in Mesaieed 40 km south of the Qatari capital, Doha’s ministry of defense said at the time.
The Gulf state is one of the world’s top liquefied natural gas producers, alongside the US, Australia and Russia.
On Tuesday, QatarEnergy said it would halt some downstream production of some products including urea, polymers, methanol, aluminum and others.
Qatar shares the world’s largest natural gas reservoir with Iran.
QatarEnergy estimates the Gulf state’s portion of the reservoir, the North Field, holds about 10 percent of the world’s known natural gas reserves.
In recent years, Qatar has inked a series of long-term LNG deals with France’s Total, Britain’s Shell, India’s Petronet, China’s Sinopec and Italy’s Eni, among others.
