French Auto Maker Renault decides to Stay in Iran, Fight Trump Sanctions
French carmaker Renault will maintain its presence in Iran while taking measures to avoid the risk of penalties for breaching renewed US sanctions, CEO Carlos Ghosn said Friday.
“We will not abandon it, even if we have to downsize very strongly,” he said at the annual shareholders’ meeting in Paris.
“When the market reopens, the fact of having stayed will certainly give us an advantage,” he predicted.
US President Donald Trump announced in May that he was pulling out of the hard-fought 2015 deal in which world powers offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for restraints on its nuclear programme.
The US exit means renewed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, while international companies doing business there will face penalties if they do not quit the country in between 90 and 180 days.
Companies including aircraft maker Boeing, French energy giant Total and Danish shipping group Maersk have announced plans to pull out, while Nike has stopped supplying Iran’s football team with boots.