LUXEMBOURG, Oct 5: European Union Foreign Ministers meet here on Monday to discuss how to prevent a row with the United States over relations with Iran degenerating into a damaging trans-Atlantic trade war.

The EU's enlargement into eastern Europe, the implementation of the Treaty of Amsterdam, signed last week, and preparations for a special jobs summit in November are also on the agenda for the Ministers' monthly meeting.

The talks are the last before the October 15 deadline for the EU and US to reach an agreement on controversial American legislation that seeks to punish foreign companies that trade with Cuba, Iran or Libya. The deadline was fixed in April when the EU agreed to suspend its World Trade Organisation (WTO) case against Washington's Helms-Burton legislation on Cuba after President Bill Clinton waived application of its most controversial sections.

But the prospects of a negotiated settlement have been badly hit by French oil group Total's announcement last week that it had signed a two billion dollar contract to develop an Iranian oil field in partnership Russia's Gazprom and Malaysia's Petronas.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.