U.S. President Donald Trump talks to German Chancellor Angela Merkel before the first working session of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. Kay Nietfeld | Pool | Getty Images

European powers say they are willing to work with the Trump administration to tackle Iran's "destabilising actions." However, they first want Washington to agree not to punish the Continent's industries over their business dealings with the Middle Eastern country. They are seeking broad carve-outs for sectors from health care to energy, as well as assurances that financial institutions can facilitate transactions with Iran's central bank without fear of reprisal. Firms including French oil giant Total and aircraft maker Airbus have announced billions of dollars in deals with Iran since sanctions were lifted in 2016. Ministers from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union laid out their reqeusts in a letter to top Trump officials obtained by The New York Times and posted online on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the letter.

As allies, we expect that the United States will refrain from taking action to harm Europe's security interests. British, French, German and EU ministers

The letter is the latest move in a standoff between the transatlantic partners after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and restored wide-ranging sanctions on the country. The Trump administration also plans to enforce so-called secondary sanctions, which threaten to lock firms that do business with Iran out of the much larger U.S. market. The EU opposes that decision and is taking steps to protect their firms. However, the large corporations and banks that Iran is depending on to bolster its economy say they cannot stomach the threat of U.S. sanctions and will drop business ties with Tehran unless Washington grants them waivers. The finance, economy and foreign ministers acknowledged their limited ability to counter U.S. influence over global markets in the letter. "In their current state, U.S. secondary sanctions could prevent the EU from continuing meaningful sanctions relief to Iran," the ministers said. Iran says it will leave the deal if it no longer accrues enough economic benefits to continue accepting limits on its nuclear program and opening its facilities to inspections. Tehran agreed to those terms in 2015 after enduring years of international sanctions spurred by evidence that it conducted secret research into developing nuclear weapons.