European governments vowed on Wednesday to try to shield their improved economic ties with Iran from the effects of renewed US sanctions, but business leaders struck a more pessimistic note. The EU said it remained committed to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the suspension of its own sanctions, the day after President Donald Trump announced Washington’s withdrawal from the pact. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also insisted the deal was "not dead". However, companies with active Iranian investments or plans mostly stayed quiet on the viability of those projects beyond a "wind-down" period of three to six months until the US reimposes sanctions on entities doing business with Tehran. Siemens was still "assessing the implications of the Iran decision", the German industrial giant’s chief financial officer Ralf Thomas told reporters on a call. "One of the strongest industrialised countries in the world has made a political decision — as an industrial company we have to recog...
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