Finance

Finance

Renault reports profit plunge over anti-Iran sanctions

27 July 2013 13:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. French giant carmaker Renault says its profits have plunged after US-engineered sanctions against Tehran led to a halt in its activities in Iran, PRESS TV reported.

The auto group said the stoppage resulted in a loss of 249 million euros from a profit of 519 million euros last year.

Renault has restricted its activities in Iran since July 1 because of US-led sanctions that also target the country’s auto sector.

In February 2012, Europe’s second largest automaker, PSA Peugeot Citroën, also stopped its trade with Iran after the enforcement of US-led financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program.

Peugeot halted its exports of vehicles to Iran, which accounted for around 13 percent of the firm’s global deliveries in 2011. The French company posted a record 6.7 billion dollar loss in 2012. Iran was the carmaker’s second-biggest market in 2011 in terms of trade volume.

The illegal US-engineered sanctions against the Islamic Republic have been imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran may be pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.