Iran Press / Iran news: In an interview with ICANA( (Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency) on Tuesday, Zarif rejected a Reuters claim that the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will not cover oil sales and only includes humanitarian and food products.
Zarif maintained that Iran’s oil sales is actually the focus of the EU’s promised trade mechanism, adding “based on the information we have, the claim by Reuters news agency is not true. If the revenues of Iran’s oil sales are not put into an account, then it won’t be clear if there is any money to do transactions with. On the other hand, Iran’s major export is oil, so I suspect the Reuters report might be part of a media propaganda and misinformation campaign to dash people's hope.”
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.
Zarif pointedly added: "Iran believes European countries are making an effort to maintain ties with the Islamic Republic. The Europeans believe that implementation of the nuclear agreement (JCPOA) will be good for Europe's security. Thus if the Europeans want security, they must pay for it ! They must pay for implementation of the nuclear agreement (JCPOA)."
He added that EU seems to be exercising “too much caution” regarding the SPV. Zarif said: "We hope that the special financial mechanism will be up and running soon, and we have received some encouraging news from the Europeans about the registration of SPV. The proof of the pudding is in eating it, and we have to see the special financial-trade mechanism work in practice before all of our concerns are removed.
“The European sides want to enjoy the benefits of the JCPOA without paying any price for it, which is impossible. Overall, it seems that the EU understands this fact, and we hope to hear some good news in the coming days.”
Zarif added that preliminary information received from the EU for the execution of the trade mechanism has been positive. 211/ 102
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