Americas

Americas

U.S. welcomes Italian company’s decision to leave Iran’s energy sector

06 July 2012 22:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United States on Friday welcomed Edison International’s decision to withdraw from Iran’s energy sector, praising in particular the Italian energy company’s ending of a contract to explore Iran’s Dayyer natural gas field,APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The State Department also took note of the company’s pledge not to engage in sanctionable activity with Iran in the future, saying the moves will exempt it from U.S. investigation into its past activities in Iran.

"We commend the commitments made by Edison International, and we hope that other firms will follow its lead," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

Edison joins Total of France, Royal Dutch Shell of Britain and the Netherlands, Statoil of Norway, ENI of Italy and INPEX of Japan, energy companies that have stopped doing business with Iran to avoid potential U.S. sanctions.

The U.S. and the European Union are targeting Iran’s oil exports to force a changed course over its disputed nuclear program, fearful of the Islamic republic’s attempt to acquire nuclear weapons.

"We will continue to pursue sanctions as part of a robust dual- track policy to encourage Iran to address the international community’s concerns regarding its nuclear program," Nuland said in her statement.

Iran has insisted on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.