It's not likely the US will be able to walk over Putin with unilateral sanctions. Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool/AP

Sanctions are much in demand these days as a tool of American foreign policy.

Members of Congress want tough new sanctions against Russia for its interference in American elections. Sanctions will remain in place against North Korea, the White House says, until Pyongyang shows progress toward denuclearization. After tearing up the Iran nuclear accord , the Trump administration is imposing what Secretary of State Pompeo has called the " strongest sanctions in history ," seeking to get a better deal on restricting Tehran's weapons and change its policies in the region. And even NATO ally Turkey faces sanctions for imprisoning several US citizens and employees of its diplomatic mission.

Policymakers claim that sanctions are an effective means of achieving policy goals, but is that true? Are new measures against Moscow and Tehran likely to be successful?

Research on sanctions by myself and others has shown that they can sometimes be effective. But there are three key elements: allies, a willingness to enforce them, and incentives to bargain. The absence of all three means they probably won't work with Russia and Iran.

When the US imposed sanctions on Cuba after Fidel Castro came to power, Havana turned to Moscow for help. Ramon Espinosa/AP

Allies supporting and reinforcing sanctions are usually pivotal to making them stick.

Unilateral sanctions such as the proposed measures against Russia and Iran are seldom successful. Although the European Union has placed sanctions on Russia because of its actions in Ukraine, the latest legislative measures proposed in Congress would be unilateral.

In an increasingly globalized world, unilateral sanctions face huge obstacles — even when imposed by the largest economy . A landmark study published in the 1990s by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that unilateral US sanctions achieved their foreign policy goals only 13% of the time .

The rare instances when unilateral sanctions work involve countries that have extensive trade relations with the US, clearly not the case with Russia or Iran . Russia is low on the list of US trading partners , and Iran has had virtually no economic or commercial relations with the US Neither country is dependent on US trade or likely to submit to American economic pressure.

In addition, when a country faces sanctions, it can often seek commercial ties elsewhere. This was the case with Cuba. When the US imposed sanctions on its former trading partner after Fidel Castro came to power, Havana turned to Moscow for help and became a part of the communist bloc.

Iran, for its part, has diversified its economy in the face of sanctions from the US and other Western countries, shifting trade to the East and increasingly selling oil and buying goods in China, India and other Asian countries.

Washington is responding to Tehran's circumvention strategy by threatening to impose secondary sanctions against foreign companies that trade with Iran, barring them from doing business in the US Extraterritorial sanctions such as these are opposed by other countries as a violation of international law .

European nations especially disagree with this approach and have vowed to maintain trading relations with Iran despite secondary sanctions. Russia and China also oppose the new US policy.

Iran produces 2 million barrels of oil a day —US sanctions are already impacting the global oil market. Vahid Salemi/AP

This raises a second factor that influences whether sanctions work: Is the country issuing the sanctions willing and able to assure compliance with those measures?

The prospect of losing Iran's 2 million barrels of oil a day is already roiling global markets . To calm investors, the US State Department quietly announced in early July that Washington would allow countries like China, India and Turkey to reduce oil imports from Iran "on a case-by-case" basis, signaling the US will allow some states to maintain imports, thus limiting the impact of the sanctions.

In other words, the desire to mitigate the potential impact of new sanctions on global financial markets may outweigh the goals of imposing them in the first place.

A similar problem of weak compliance is affecting continued UN sanctions against North Korea. In the wake of the Trump-Kim summit and the president's claim that Pyongyang is no longer a nuclear threat, China and Russia have shown reluctance to continue enforcing sanctions. They recently blocked an effort within the UN Security Council to condemn North Korean oil smuggling.

If the US and major allies are unable or unwilling to pay the price of sanctions enforcement, effectiveness diminishes.

Sanctions work best when bargaining is combined with incentives for compliance, as was achieved in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Fars News / REUTERS

A third factor affecting success is the need to combine sanctions with diplomatic bargaining.

My research with George Lopez , a professor emeritus of peace studies , shows that sanctions work best within a bargaining framework in which the imposition of coercive measures is combined with incentives for compliance.

The offer to lift sanctions can be an effective bargaining chip for persuading the targeted regime to accept compromise and alter its policies. This was the case in the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement , when the offer to lift sanctions served as an inducement for Serbia to end its aggressive policies and accept a political settlement.

The irony in the case of Iran is that precisely this form of sanctions-based diplomacy was successful in achieving the 2015 nuclear deal . Rigorous US, UN and European Union sanctions were combined with an offer to lift them if Iran complied with demands to restrict its nuclear program and accept intrusive inspections. The International Atomic Energy Commission verified on 10 separate occasions from 2016 through the early part of 2018 that Iran kept its side of the bargain, and sanctions were removed.

For all these reasons, I believe the new US policy of reimposing unilateral sanctions abandons a multilateral approach that was working in favor of a unilateral policy that has little chance of success.

The US and EU sanctions on Russia for its policies in Ukraine may have some continuing effect, but the new measures under consideration in Congress are unlikely to have a major impact.

Policymakers may talk tough about threatening sanctions, but their policies are weak if they are unilateral and costly to implement. Sanctions work best when they are part of a multilateral diplomatic effort — like the Obama administration took on Iran — in which the offer to lift sanctions is used as an incentive to achieve a negotiated settlement.

The Trump administration may think that it can go it alone in foreign policy, but on sanctions, as on nonproliferation and other policies, multilateral cooperation is often the key to success.</s>LONDON — European firms that stop doing business with Iran because of reimposed U.S. sanctions could in turn be sanctioned by the E.U., a special adviser to the 28-country bloc’s top diplomat has warned.

“If E.U. companies abide by U.S. secondary sanctions they will, in turn, be sanctioned by the E.U.,” Nathalie Tocci, an aide to E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, told Britain’s BBC Radio 4 on Monday night.

She characterized the measures as an attempt to “protect European companies.”

Tocci said the move was “necessary in order to signal, diplomatically, to the Iranians that Europeans are serious” about trying to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

Hours earlier, the U.S. announced it was reintroducing sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The Trump administration’s decision to walk away from the landmark 2015 Iran pact signed by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the U.S., Russia, France, China and the U.K. — as well as Germany and the European Union, dismayed and angered longtime U.S. allies and vital trading partners.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson traveled to the U.S. aiming to convince President Donald Trump not to ditch the deal, saying it was working and the only way to halt a regional arms race.

Nevertheless, Trump went ahead and announced on May 8 that the U.S. was withdrawing from what he called the “decaying and rotten” agreement.

Mogherini told reporters Tuesday that the E.U. was doing its “best to keep Iran in the deal, to keep Iran benefiting from the economic benefits that the agreement brings to the people of Iran.”

Tocci, the adviser, conceded that potential E.U. sanctions as part of the so-called blocking statute that came into effect on Tuesday were “politically and symbolically” an important step. The European measures are aimed at allowing firms to recover damages from bodies that enforce American sanctions, and ban companies from complying with the sanctions without E.U. permission.

In 2016, the European Union exported more than 8.2 billion euros ($9.7 billion) worth of goods to Iran, while importing almost 5.5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) from there, according to the European Commission. This is dwarfed by the $1.1 trillion the E.U.-U.S. trade represented in the same year.

Virtually all multinational firms do business or banking in the U.S., leaving European companies vulnerable to American sanctions punishing those operating in and with Iran.

Trump doubled down on his stance on Iran early Tuesday.

At midnight Monday, the U.S. began targeting oil-rich Iran’s automotive industry and civil aviation sector, as well as trade in gold and other metals in a set of punitive measures that had been eased under Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama.

Trump has called for a wholesale overhaul of Iranian regional policies, such as an end to its military support for the Syrian government and regional militant groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The 2015 pact did not curb these actions, one reason Trump has called the agreement “the worst deal ever.”

International inspectors say Iran has been complying with the deal to curtail its nuclear program.

The U.S. is preparing to reimpose the remainder of sanctions lifted as part of the agreement, and target Iran’s oil sector and central bank in early November.

America has also pressured allies to stop importing oil from Iran before the November deadline. Top buyers of Iranian oil include China, India, Turkey and South Korea.

The effects on Iran of Washington’s hardening stance have been stark, with Iran’s rial currency losing two-thirds of its value in six months.

Within hours of the White House announcement on Monday, international firms announced steps to avoid U.S. sanctions.

On Tuesday, German car manufacturing giant Daimler said it had suspended its activities in Iran.

“We will continue to closely monitor the political developments, especially in connection with the future of the nuclear agreement,” the company said in a statement.

Daimler’s announcement came after U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell in May warned that firms that continued to do business in Iran would face consequences.

“U.S. sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately,” he tweeted.

In June, auto manufacturer PSA — which makes Peugeot vehicles — began taking steps to suspend its joint-venture activities in Iran while rival Renault has said it will adhere to the U.S. sanctions.

French oil giant Total has said it would quit a multibillion-dollar gas project if it cannot secure a waiver from the sanctions — a request the French government says had been rejected.

F. Brinley Bruton reported from London, and Andy Eckardt and Carlo Angerer from Mainz, Germany.</s>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union voiced deep regret on Monday over U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewal of sanctions on Iran, which will test the bloc’s ability to preserve a 2015 deal under which Iran curbed its nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief.

Despite protest from European allies, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed to fully enforce the snapback of sanctions, whose implementation will be detailed by the U.S. administration on Monday.

The EU and other parties to the deal, China and Russia, are working to maintain trade with Iran, which has threatened to stop complying with curbs on its nuclear work if it fails to see the economic benefits of relief from sanctions under the deal.

One EU measure to mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions, known as the blocking statute, will come into force on Tuesday.

“We deeply regret the re-imposition of sanctions by the U.S.,” the bloc said in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain.

“The remaining parties ... have committed to work on, inter alia, the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas.”

The EU’s so-called blocking statute seeks to shield small and medium-sized businesses working in Iran.

It seeks to forbid EU persons from complying with U.S. sanctions, allow for the recovery of related damages and counter court rulings to enforce American penalties.

EU officials admit, however, that the measure does not go far enough in protecting big European firms from the risks of investing in Iran.

With the U.S. administration taking a hard line on waivers, many major companies have already announced that they are quitting the country.</s>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union voiced deep regret on Monday over U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewal of sanctions on Iran, which will test the bloc’s ability to preserve a 2015 deal under which Iran curbed its nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief.

Despite protest from European allies, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed to fully enforce the snapback of sanctions, whose implementation will be detailed by the U.S. administration on Monday.

The EU and other parties to the deal, China and Russia, are working to maintain trade with Iran, which has threatened to stop complying with curbs on its nuclear work if it fails to see the economic benefits of relief from sanctions under the deal.

One EU measure to mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions, known as the blocking statute, will come into force on Tuesday.

“We deeply regret the re-imposition of sanctions by the U.S.,” the bloc said in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain.

“The remaining parties ... have committed to work on, inter alia, the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas.”

The EU’s so-called blocking statute seeks to shield small and medium-sized businesses working in Iran.

It seeks to forbid EU persons from complying with U.S. sanctions, allow for the recovery of related damages and counter court rulings to enforce American penalties.

EU officials admit, however, that the measure does not go far enough in protecting big European firms from the risks of investing in Iran.

With the U.S. administration taking a hard line on waivers, many major companies have already announced that they are quitting the country.</s>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union vowed on Monday to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewal of sanctions on Iran, in a test of the EU’s ability to preserve a deal that saw Iran limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for removing strict curbs on its economy.

As Washington’s so-called “snapback” sanctions are reinstated on Tuesday, a new EU law to shield European companies will also take effect to try to mitigate what EU officials say is their “unlawful” reach beyond U.S. borders.

Despite protests from European allies, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would fully enforce the sanctions. EU diplomats said they were awaiting details on Monday on how they will be implemented.

The EU and other parties to the 2015 deal, China and Russia, are working to maintain trade with Iran, which has threatened to stop complying with curbs on its nuclear work if it fails to see the economic benefits of relief from sanctions under the deal.

“We deeply regret the re-imposition of sanctions by the U.S.,” the bloc said in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain.

They pledged to work on preserving financial flows and Iran’s oil and gas exports - a lifeline of its economy.

EU officials hope the EU’s so-called blocking statute will mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions for business, including by deterring U.S. authorities from enforcing some penalties.

But they admit it may not be enough to convince European firms to brave U.S. penalties in order to do business with Iran. Senior U.S. administration officials brushed off questions about the EU measure on Monday, warning the risks were real for companies working in Iran.

The new measure forbids EU persons from complying with U.S. sanctions or related court rulings and allows for firms to sue in court to recover potential damages from parties who withdraw from contracts due to U.S. sanctions.

“For those who have exposure, there is no panacea. What this does is it provides a deterrence. It means that sanctions that are discretionary may never be applied,” one senior EU official said, adding that firms have rarely been fined under U.S. secondary sanctions in the past.

“If they (sanctions) are applied, then that person can go to the court to recover that damage.”

Under the new rules, firms should apply for EU authorization to wind down operations in Iran if it is doing so to comply with U.S. sanctions but not if it is a business decision - a distinction that may be difficult to make.

The threat of EU penalties for European firms who fail to seek such a legal exemption for withdrawing from Iran due to U.S. sanctions has raised alarm among EU businesses that they could be penalized either way.

Seeking to ease concerns, EU officials have stressed the measure seeks to “free not force” firms to remain invested in Iran.

EU officials say they will be strict in reviewing requests for exemptions - wary to undermine its effect by granting too many authorizations.

A number of other countries have asked EU officials for details on the blocking regulations as they also explore ways to bypass sanctions and their effect on oil markets: “There is a clear interest around the world,” one EU official said.

With the U.S. administration taking a hard line on granting waivers from sanctions, many major companies from the oil and gas industry to car manufacturers and consumer goods firms have already announced that they are quitting the country.

German exports to Iran alone fell by four percent in the first five months of 2018 after rising by 16 percent last year, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) said.</s>LONDON — European firms that stop doing business with Iran due to reimposed U.S. sanctions could in turn be sanctioned by the E.U., a special adviser to the 28-country bloc's top diplomat has warned.

“If E.U. companies abide by U.S. secondary sanctions they will, in turn, be sanctioned by the E.U.," Nathalie Tocci, an aide to E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told Britain’s BBC Radio 4 on Monday night.

She characterized the measures as an attempt to "protect European companies.”

Tocci said the move was "necessary in order to signal, diplomatically, to the Iranians that Europeans are serious" about trying to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

Hours earlier, the U.S. announced it was reintroducing sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The Trump administration's decision to walk away from the landmark 2015 Iran pact signed by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the U.S., Russia, France, China and the U.K. — as well as Germany and the European Union, dismayed and angered longtime U.S. allies and vital trading partners.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French leader Emmanuel Macron and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson traveled to the U.S. aiming to convince President Donald Trump not to ditch the deal, saying it was working and the only way to halt a regional arms race.

Nevertheless, Trump went ahead and announced on May 8 the U.S. was withdrawing from what he called the "decaying and rotten" agreement.

Mogherini told reporters Tuesday that the E.U. was doing its "best to keep Iran in the deal, to keep Iran benefiting from the economic benefits that the agreement brings to the people of Iran.”

Tocci, the adviser, conceded potential E.U. sanctions as part of the the so-called blocking statute which came into effect on Tuesday were "politically and symbolically" an important step to take. The European measured aimed to allow firms to recover damages from bodies that enforce American sanctions, and bans companies from complying with the sanctions without E.U. permission.

In 2016, the European Union exported more than 8.2 billion euros ($9.7 billion) worth of goods to Iran, while importing almost 5.5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) from there, according to the European Commission. This is dwarfed by the $1.1 trillion the E.U.-U.S. trade represented in the same year.

Virtually all multinational firms do business or banking in the U.S., leaving European companies vulnerable to American sanctions punishing those operating in and with Iran.

Trump doubled down on his stance on Iran early Tuesday.

At midnight Monday, the U.S. began targeting oil-rich Iran's automotive industry, civil aviation sector, as well as trade of gold and other metals are the first in a set of punitive measures had been eased under Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama.

Trump has called for a wholesale overhaul of Iranian regional policies, such as an end to its military support for the Syrian government and regional militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah. The 2015 pact did not curb these actions, one reason Trump has called the agreement "the worst deal ever."

International inspectors say Iran has been complying with the deal to curtail its nuclear program.

The U.S. is preparing to reimpose the remainder of U.S. sanctions lifted as part of the agreement, and target Iran's oil sector and central bank in early November.

America has also pressured allies to stop importing oil from Iran before the November deadline. Top buyers of Iranian oil include China, India, Turkey and South Korea.

The effects on Iran of Washington's hardening stance have been stark, with Iran's rial currency losing two-thirds of its value in six months.

Within hours of the White House announcement, international firms announced steps to avoid U.S. sanctions.

On Tuesday, German car manufacturing giant Daimler said it had suspended its activities in Iran.

“We will continue to closely monitor the political developments, especially in connection with the future of the nuclear agreement,” the company said in a statement.

Daimler's announcement came after U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell in May warned that firms that continued to do business in Iran would face consequences.

“U.S. sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately,” he tweeted.

In June, auto manufacturer PSA — which makes Peugeot vehicles — began taking steps to suspend its joint-venture activities in Iran while rival Renault has said it will adhere to the U.S. sanctions.

French oil giant Total has said it would quit a multibillion-dollar gas project if it cannot secure a waiver from the sanctions — a request the French government says had been rejected.

F. Brinley Bruton reported from London, and Andy Eckardt and Carlo Angerer from Mainz, Germany.</s>The European Union is not taking renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran lying down.

The sanctions, which came into effect Monday at midnight east coast time, are the result of the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which came with a deadline for businesses to stop any business with Iran when it was announced in May. But a counter-measure from the EU came into effect at the same time. It’s a blocking measure designed to protect European countries and to keep at least some part of the nuclear deal alive.

The measure will allow European businesses affected by sanctions to sue the American government in European member state courts, and require European businesses to receive a waiver if they plan to activities in Iran. American businesses, by contrast, are required to apply for a waiver in order to activities in Iran.

The EU’s defiance of renewed American sanctions represents a serious escalation in tensions between the Trump administration and its European counterparts. EU officials have said the sanctions are “illegal” and vowed to thwart them. In an official statement, Trump promised “severe consequences” for those who violated sanctions, later reiterating the threat on Twitter.

Russia and China are also among the countries that support the Iran nuclear deal and oppose sanctions. This isn’t the first time the EU has opposed sanctions imposed by the U.S. The same mechanism was used to protect EU countries from sanctions against Cuba.</s>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union vowed on Monday to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewal of sanctions on Iran, in a test of the EU’s ability to preserve a deal that saw Iran limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for removing strict curbs on its economy.

As Washington’s so-called “snapback” sanctions are reinstated on Tuesday, a new EU law to shield European companies will also take effect to try to mitigate what EU officials say is their “unlawful” reach beyond U.S. borders.

Despite protests from European allies, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would fully enforce the sanctions. EU diplomats said they were awaiting details on Monday on how they will be implemented.

The EU and other parties to the 2015 deal, China and Russia, are working to maintain trade with Iran, which has threatened to stop complying with curbs on its nuclear work if it fails to see the economic benefits of relief from sanctions under the deal.

“We deeply regret the re-imposition of sanctions by the U.S.,” the bloc said in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain.

They pledged to work on preserving financial flows and Iran’s oil and gas exports - a lifeline of its economy.

EU officials hope the EU’s so-called blocking statute will mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions for business, including by deterring U.S. authorities from enforcing some penalties.

But they admit it may not be enough to convince European firms to brave U.S. penalties in order to do business with Iran. Senior U.S. administration officials brushed off questions about the EU measure on Monday, warning the risks were real for companies working in Iran.

The new measure forbids EU persons from complying with U.S. sanctions or related court rulings and allows for firms to sue in court to recover potential damages from parties who withdraw from contracts due to U.S. sanctions.

“For those who have exposure, there is no panacea. What this does is it provides a deterrence. It means that sanctions that are discretionary may never be applied,” one senior EU official said, adding that firms have rarely been fined under U.S. secondary sanctions in the past.

“If they (sanctions) are applied, then that person can go to the court to recover that damage.”

Under the new rules, firms should apply for EU authorization to wind down operations in Iran if it is doing so to comply with U.S. sanctions but not if it is a business decision - a distinction that may be difficult to make.

The threat of EU penalties for European firms who fail to seek such a legal exemption for withdrawing from Iran due to U.S. sanctions has raised alarm among EU businesses that they could be penalized either way.

Seeking to ease concerns, EU officials have stressed the measure seeks to “free not force” firms to remain invested in Iran.

EU officials say they will be strict in reviewing requests for exemptions - wary to undermine its effect by granting too many authorizations.

A number of other countries have asked EU officials for details on the blocking regulations as they also explore ways to bypass sanctions and their effect on oil markets: “There is a clear interest around the world,” one EU official said.

With the U.S. administration taking a hard line on granting waivers from sanctions, many major companies from the oil and gas industry to car manufacturers and consumer goods firms have already announced that they are quitting the country.

German exports to Iran alone fell by four percent in the first five months of 2018 after rising by 16 percent last year, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) said.</s>Daimler has abandoned plans to expand in Iran as US sanctions targeting the country snap back into place.

The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars confirmed Tuesday that it has suspended its activities in the country "until further notice according to applicable sanctions."

Daimler (DDAIF) said in a statement that Iran's automotive markets have been significantly weaker than expected, and it had not yet resumed production or sale of Mercedes cars or trucks in the country. The company has not sold cars in Iran since 2010.

The German carmaker had announced plans in 2016 to return to Iran after economic sanctions were lifted under an international agreement that sought to limit the country's nuclear program.

Related: One of Iran's most iconic industries faces disaster

Daimler was joined by major companies including Boeing (BA), Airbus (EADSF), Total (TOT) and Siemens (SIEGY), all of which sought to capitalize on pent up demand in Iran for consumer products and improvements to infrastructure and equipment.

Their plans were upended in May, when President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord and reimpose economic sanctions, the first wave of which took effect at midnight on Tuesday.

Companies caught violating the sanctions could be cut off from the US financial system and targeted with other punishments.

A US official said Monday that "nearly 100 international firms have announced their intent to leave the Iranian market."

Related: EU fights back to neutralize US sanctions against Iran

The European Union has sought to salvage the nuclear deal and provide legal cover for its companies to continue operating in Iran. Its efforts include a "blocking statute" designed to protect companies from US sanctions.

"We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran," European officials said in a statement on Monday. "Preserving the nuclear deal with Iran is a matter of respecting international agreements and a matter of international security."

Related: What impact will US sanctions on Iran actually have?

Some European companies have decided the risks are too great.

PSA (PUGOY), which makes Peugeot and Citroen cars, said in June that it has begun to suspend its joint ventures in the country in order to comply with US law.

Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser told CNN in May that his company could not do any new business in Iran. Total has said it is unable to proceed with a $2 billion project to develop the country's giant South Pars gas field.</s>The Latest: US not worried about EU move on sanctions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on U.S. sanctions on Iran (all times local):

A senior administration official says the United States is "not particularly concerned" by EU efforts to protect European firms from the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran.

The official was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke Monday on condition of anonymity.

The European Union issued a "blocking statute" Monday to protect European businesses from the impact of sanctions set to return Monday at midnight.

The official says the U.S. will use the sanctions aggressively and cited Iran's severe economic downturn this year as evidence the sanctions would prove to be effective despite opposition from the EU, China and Russia.

European foreign ministers say they "deeply regret" the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

A statement Monday by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom insisted that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal "is working and delivering on its goal" of limiting Iran's nuclear program.

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, which had lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program. U.N. inspectors said Iran was complying with the deal, but Trump argued that it didn't do enough.

But the European ministers said the Iran deal is "crucial for the security of Europe, the region and the entire world."

The first set of reinstated U.S. sanctions goes into effect Monday. Those target Iran's automotive sector as well as gold and other metals.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the renewed sanctions against Iran are an important pillar in U.S. policy toward the Tehran government.

Pompeo says the sanctions will be rigorously enforced and remain in place until the Iranian government radically changes course.

Those sanctions go back in place on Monday.

Pompeo told reporters on his way home from a three-nation trip to South East Asia that the Trump administration is open to looking beyond sanctions but adds that would "require enormous change" from Tehran.

He said President Donald Trump is intent on getting Iran to "behave like a normal country."

U.S. sanctions had been eased by the Obama administration under the terms of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trump decided in May to withdraw from the accord.
The European Union announces that its blocking statute against the US sanctions will take effect tomorrow, protecting European companies from US sanctions and encouraging them to keep trading with Iran.