The director of Iran project at Crisis Group Ali Vaez said that France and Germany are trying to rescue the Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to maintain trade with Iran, and to preserve the nuclear deal.

Europe: According to an Iran Press report, Vaez made the remarks on Tuesday in a Twitter message referring to what the Wall Street Journal released.

France and Germany have joined forces to rescue a European effort to create a payment channel to keep trade flowing with Iran, defying US attempts to take the air out of the plan, Wall Street Journal quoted senior diplomats as saying.

The steps by Europe’s most powerful countries are part of their campaign to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal after President Trump withdrew the US from the deal in May.

Their goal is to help European companies continue some business activity with Iran despite sweeping new US sanctions on the country and any company that does business with it.

France or Germany will host the corporation that would handle the payments channel, the diplomats said. If France hosts it, a German official will head the corporation and vice versa.

Both countries will help fund the corporation.

The media went on to say that "the payments channel, known as a special purpose vehicle, or SPV, would use a system of credits to facilitate compensation for goods traded between Iran and Europe—allowing some trade to proceed without the need for European commercial banks to make payments to or receive payments from Iran". 

On Thursday, November  22, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Italian counterpart Enzo Moavero Milanesi talked about JCPOA, SPV.

Earlier the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini said that SPV aims to create a legal channel for easing financial transactions with Iran.

The idea of creating a special purpose vehicle, SPV, was first floated in a meeting of foreign ministers from the UK, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. 103

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