General Electric will begin to halt its operations in Iran following President Trump’s scrapping of a deal that gave the Islamic Republic access to U.S. trade in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear capabilities.
The Boston-based company joins an array of businesses affected by Trump’s decision, which was broadly condemned by European allies and includes the reinstatement of U.S. sanctions suspended under the Obama-era agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Licenses that allowed U.S. firms to do business in Iran will be revoked, subject to three- and six-month wind-down periods, and the U.S. will retaliate against overseas companies that continue to do business with the country.
“We are adapting our activities in Iran as necessary to conform with recent changes in U.S. law,” a GE spokeswoman said. “GE’s activities in Iran to date have been limited and in compliance with U.S. government rules, licenses and policies.”
Several other companies, including French oil and gas giant Total SA, have also announced they will pause operations in Iran.
In addition to equipment sales by GE affiliates outside the U.S., regulatory filings show the company won $1.49 million in purchase orders from Iran in the three months through March 31, a fraction of its total of $13 billion in equipment orders. Trade allowed under the license that GE used won’t be allowed after early November, the Treasury Department said.
The fallout is considerably more severe for other U.S. manufacturers. Chicago-based planemaker Boeing had won orders valued at roughly $20 billion, though none of the aircraft had been delivered.
