As U.S. sanctions on Iran are set to snap back into place Monday, the European Union announced it'll protect companies doing legitimate business with Iran.
The EU foreign policy chief and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. made the announcement in a joint statement on Monday. They said the EU's updated Blocking Statute would go into effect at the same time as the U.S.' sanctions.
The Blocking Statute's goal is to protect EU companies doing business with Iran from secondary U.S. sanctions. The statute allows EU companies to recover damages from sanctions. It even "forbids" companies from complying with the sanctions unless authorized to do so.
The EU said it "deeply regrets" the U.S. putting the sanctions back into place. But it said it will remain "fully committed" to the Iran nuclear deal, which includes Iran limiting its uranium enrichment program in exchange for relief from sanctions.
