When Donald Trump first entered the White House in 2017, Cyrus Razzaghi was running an Iranian business consultancy, advising U.S., Japanese and European companies about how to grab opportunities in a market emerging from years of economic isolation.

That all changed the following year, when the then-U.S. President abandoned Iran¡¯s landmark nuclear deal with world powers and imposed severe economic sanctions instead.

¡°We had to diversify away from Iran and somehow hedge ourselves for further animosity,¡± Razzaghi, chairman of Ara Enterprise Consultancy Group, said by phone from Tehran. ¡°At one point we thought there was going to be a war.¡±