British companies would not have purchased/built that equipment without the resource access that had been established via contractual agreements with the Iranian government.
Sure. But the Iranian government has sovereignty, just like the US government. That means that they cannot be bound by any contract if they decide to change their mind, the most that can be done is that you might press for a fair market value.
Why do you hold the Iranian government to a standard no other government in the world is held? Would you expect the American government to be forever bound to treaties signed by the British, or to agreements made by the executive alone ranging from two decades to a century ago?
