EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that the European Union opposes the United States’ policy of sanctions.

According to Malay Mail daily, he pointed to sanctions on Iran, Cuba and the International Criminal Court, saying the EU opposed the U.S. policy of enforcing its measures against companies and individuals around the world.

“I am deeply concerned at the growing use of sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, by the United States against European companies and interests,” Borrell said in a statement.

He said Washington’s secondary sanctions on those doing business with its foes was hitting European companies carrying out “legitimate business.”

“Where common foreign and security policy goals are shared, there is great value in the coordination of targeted sanctions with partners. Where policy differences exist, the European Union is always open to dialogue. But this cannot take place against the threat of sanctions,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump quit the nuclear deal in May 2018 and introduced the harshest ever sanctions in history on Iran as part of his administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

Under the JCPOA, Iran promised to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions.

The U.S. has threatened to punish any company that do business with Iran.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday, saying parties to the nuclear deal should facilitate economic dividends from the JCPOA to Iran.

“Austria regrets any unilateral steps, which undermine the preservation of the deal. We hope all sides will agree and find their way back to full implementation, in order to create conditions to facilitate economic dividends from the JCPOA for Iran,” IRNA quoted the ministry as saying.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday called the JCPOA the last decade’s “greatest diplomatic achievement”.

The JCPOA was the result of 12 years of negotiations.

Officials at the White House, including Trump and his foreign secretary Pompeo, have been claiming that the pressure on Iran are intended to force Iran to change behavior. However, analysts and even European allies of the U.S. believes such a degree of pressure is aimed to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

NA/PA