CMA CGM will withdraw from Iran because of us sanctions

AIX-EN-PROVENCE (Reuters) – The group of maritime transport, French CMA CGM will discontinue its activities in Iran following the administration’s decision to Trump to impose new sanctions on companies trading with Tehran, announced on Saturday that its president and CEO.

“Because of the administration of the Trump, we decided to put an end to the service of Iran,” said Rodolphe Saadé, during a debate on the occasion of the economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence.

“Our chinese competitors are hesitant a bit so maybe they have a different relationship with Trump. But we apply the rules”, he added.

It noted that CMA CGM, eager not to find themselves subject to u.s. sanctions because of its strong presence in the United States, had suspended its agreement with its iranian partner IRISL.

Other actors in the sector, such as the Danish shipowner A. P. Moller-Maersk, have already announced the suspension of their activities in Iran in the prospect of the reintroduction of sanctions in the coming months in the wake of Washington’s decision to withdraw from the agreement by July 2015 on the iranian nuclear program.

Rodolphe Saade has also pointed out that the volumes carried by CMA CGM, were currently not affected by the trade tensions growing between the United States and China, but the group was preparing for a possible degradation by monitoring especially China and South-East Asia.

(Pascale Denis and Sarah White, published by Myriam Rivet and Benoit Van Overstraeten)