EU, Germany, UK and France say they want to protect European firms doing legitimate business with Iran

The European Union, France, Germany and Britain said in a joint statement on Friday that they regret Washington`s decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran.

New sanctions are due to come in on Monday. The restoration of sanctions is part of a wider effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to force Iran to curb its nuclear and missile programs as well as its support for proxy forces in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East.

"Our aim is to protect European economic actors who have legitimate commercial exchanges with Iran, in line with European legislation and the United Nations` Security Council resolution 2231," European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers and finance ministers of the three countries said.

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