The United States has announced that it welcomes the decision of Italian company Edison International to withdraw from its agreements in Iran’s energy sector.
The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. State Department announced that Edison has withdrawn from exploration in Iran’s Dayyer natural gas field and promised to stay out of future projects with Iran.
Iran is under severe sanctions by the U.S. and the European Union in connection with its nuclear disputes with the West.
The U.S. State Department announced that the company is now granted a “special rule” under the Iran sanctions Act, which means it will not be investigated for its past Iran-based activities.
The state department spokesperson said it hoped that other companies would follow Edison’s move in cutting relations with Iran.
According to the United States, Edison is the sixth international company to withdraw from investment in Iran. Previously, Royal Dutch Shell, Japan’s Inpex, Norway’s Statoil, France’s Total and Italy’s Eni have all announced that they have stopped all business dealings with Iran.
