France's Total has officially left Iran: oil minister

TEHRAN – French energy giant Total has officially quit its multi-billion-dollar gas project in Iran, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Monday, following the reimposition of US sanctions. 

"Total has officially left the agreement for the development of phase 11 of South Pars (gas field). It has been more than two months that it announced that it would leave the contract," he told the ICANA news agency, which is linked to the oil ministry. 

The United States said in May that it was abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions on Iran in two phases in August and November. 

The second phase will target Iran's oil industry, and Total had already said it would be impossible to remain in Iran unless it received a specific waiver from Washington, which was not granted. 
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