 On 31 July 2019, The United States placed sanctions on Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif.In August 2018, Total S.A. officially withdrew from the Iranian South Pars gas field because of sanctions pressure from the US, leaving CNPC to take up their 50.1% stake in the natural gas field, of which it had already 30%.It held this 80.1% share until it withdrew its investment in October 2019 due once again to the US sanctions regime, according to Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh and the SHANA news agency.