(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, commented today on the decision by Total S.A., the French oil conglomerate, to cancel its partnership with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in developing the South Pars fields, the world’s largest gas reserves. Earlier this year, Royal Dutch Shell and the Spanish oil giant Respol withdrew from a partnership with NIOC to develop the $10 billion project. Statement of Ros-Lehtinen:

Tehran’s defiant insistence on developing nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them should give pause to any potential investor in Iran’s energy sector.

Economic sanctions will be effective when responsible nations and their corporate citizens unite against the deadly threat posed by Iran's nuclear weapons program. Depriving Iran of its ability to attract capital, material, and technical support for its petroleum sector should convince the regime to abandon its ambitions for regional dominance.

Others should follow Total's lead and sever their economic ties to the Iranian regime, which continues to defy sanctions in pursuit of a goal whose outcome threatens us all.

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