PARIS, June 5 (Xinhua) -- French leading auto maker, PSA has suspended its activities in Iran on risks of U.S. sanctions after Washington pulled out from a nuclear deal with Tehran, it said in a recent statement.
"The Group has begun to suspend its joint ventures' activities, in order to comply with U.S. law by August 6th, 2018," PSA said.
With the support of the French government, the group PSA is engaging with the U.S. authorities to consider a waiver, it added.
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, under which Tehran limited the country's nuclear activities in exchange for lifted sanctions.
PSA, Europe's second-biggest carmaker, had signed joint venture agreements with Iranian auto makers Khodro and Saipa two years ago following the lifting of international sanctions against Iran in early 2016.
As Groupe PSA's operations in Iran represent less than 1 percent of its turnover, this context does not alter the current financial guidance, the group said.
In a recent interview, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire pledged to push back against the threat of U.S. sanctions against French companies doing business with Iran.
He proposed to reinforce the EU "blocking regulations" that date back to 1996, to seek for more financial tools to improve independence from the United States and to create the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which would monitor activities of foreign companies to check if they are respecting European decisions.
