European powers are uniting to curb the effects of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
The EU is planning to use a so-called "blocking statute" to keep U.S. sanctions from impacting European companies. President Donald Trump took the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal and plans to reimpose sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
The statute is a 1996 regulation that forbids companies in the EU from going along with foreign sanctions. It also blocks foreign court decisions from being enforced in EU member states.
Despite the bloc's unified push against the sanctions, some companies are already backing out of business with Iran. A Dutch container shipping company, an Italian steelmaker and a French oil company all say they've ended business in Iran or that they plan to do so.
