German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier lashed out at the Trump administration in response to Washington’s ultimatum to cut all economic ties with Iran following the US pullout of the 2015 brokered JCPOA.

Almaier told Bild newspaper on Saturday that Germany should be assertive and defiant in the face of American sanctions by actually investing more in Iran. He said, “We don’t let Washington dictate [their will] on trade relations with other countries.”

“German businesses can continue to invest as much as they want in Iran,” Altmaier said.

Noting that the rest of Europe and other countries across the globe should feel free to defy the Washington ban, he at the same time acknowledged the difficult reality that “many companies depend on loans from banks, most of which refinance themselves in the US – and it creates problems.”

The German economic minister further told Bild that the world is on the brink of all-out economic war from which no one will come out ahead: “we are just a few yards from the edge,” and “a global trade war would not know winners, only losers.” He explained that but a tiny minority of politicians will determine the fate of hundreds of thousands of European jobs that depend on US-EU trade.

“We have learnt from the past that mostly customers are suffering from trade wars as goods and services are getting more expensive,” Altmaier continued. “This trade war hampers economic growth and brings new uncertainties.”

Indeed on the same day the German economy minister gave the interview, China’s state-owned energy giant, CNPC – the world’s third largest oil and gas company by revenue behind Saudi Aramco and the National Iranian Oil Company – finally took over the share in Iran’s multi-billion dollar South Pars gas project held by France’s Total.