Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and Trade Ann Linde said that it will be difficult for the Swedish companies to remain on the Iranian market in light of the reimposition of the U.S. sanctions against Iran.
"The messages received from the Swedish companies, which we contacted, say that, in general, all [the companies] are reducing their activities in Iran in order not to jeopardize their business in the United States, which is a far larger market," Sputnik cited Linde as saying.
She also commented on the EU Blocking Statute's activation, which exempted the EU firms from complying with the US sanctions against Iran.
"The ban on compliance with sanctions signalizes how seriously the European Union views the sanctions and that [the bloc] assumes responsibility. Then every company takes its own decision, there is no forcing to continue one's activity in Iran," Linde explained.
On August 7, the U.S. reinstated comprehensive sanctions against Iran, including secondary sanctions targeting states doing business with the country, which were previously frozen by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In 2012, after the imposition of anti-Iranian sanctions the Swedish exports dropped from 6.7 billion Swedish krona ($751 million) to 1 billion. In 2017, Sweden's export to Iran totaled 4.3 billion Swedish krona.
