As reported in our blog post of Tuesday 7 January (see here), the EU Foreign Affairs Council met on Friday 10 January 2020 to discuss recent developments involving Iran and the situation in Iraq. The EU Foreign Ministers assessed the consequences of recent events and emphasised their support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA“), stating that it was β€œa key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture.” However, Ministers called for Iran to immediately restart full compliance with the JCPOA.

The Council gave a mandate to the EU’s High Representative to continue with all diplomatic efforts to assist with de-escalation in the region and support political discussion, and also stressed its continued support for Iraq’s stability and reconstruction.

BM will also be holding a webinar entitled β€œThe End of the JCPOA?” on Thursday 16 January at 4pm (BST); the webinar will address the effects of the possible reintroduction of UN and EU sanctions on Iran given recent developments; the new US sanctions targeting Iran will also be covered. Further details on the webinar will follow tomorrow.

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Sunwinder (Sunny) Mann is a Partner and is Chair of our International Commercial and Trade Global Practice Group. Our Trade team has been ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 UK for over 20 years. He is currently based in our London office, but has also worked in our offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Sydney and Hong Kong. Sunny's practice focuses on international trade compliance and, in particular, export controls and trade sanctions, as well as anti-bribery. He has worked on a number of significant compliance and investigations matters. He leads our Firm's Geopolitical Risks Taskforce, having coordinated our Firm's support to clients responding to the ongoing Russia crisis.

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