Iran Press/Europe: The mechanism is part of the EU’s efforts to encourage Iran to remain in the nuclear deal following the unilateral withdrawal of the US back in May, by offering an alternative payment channel to keep trade flowing with Iran in defiance of US sanctions, Iran Press reported.
“The Europeans, who are primarily to blame, must think of the consequences of their decision,” Bahram Ghassemi said in an interview on Saturday, stressing that the Europeans’ lack of action to operate the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) comes at a time when Iran has fulfilled all its commitments under the nuclear deal.
Ghassemi also noted that Iran’s patience 'is wearing thin', and that Tehran 'cannot wait forever'.
He, meanwhile, said that while the Europeans have shown political will, they have also shown over the past months that they have encountered serious obstacles for implementing the SPV.
The Iranian spokesman further referred to the US dollar supremacy over the global financial system as well as the intertwining of EU and the US economies, saying “the European Union and even the three European countries that are signatories to the Iran nuclear deal are a hostage to the US economy.”
He further underlined that “they [the Europeans] need to decide for themselves,” and prove their unity to the world by implementing the SPV.
On December 3, foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said the delay in implementation of Iran-EU’s trade mechanism is due to excessive pressure exerted by US on European countries.
The special payment channel needs a host country to come into effect. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 26, France and Germany – as key EU countries and signatories to the JCPOA – are the likely candidates to host the SPV. 103/211
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