Iran Urges EU to Deliver on SPV Promise in Practice

Amir Abdollahian made the remarks in a meeting with Tarja Cronberg, former Chair of the Parliament's delegation for relations with Iran and the current executive director of European Leadership Network.

In the meeting, which was held in Tehran on Wednesday, Amir Abdollahian hailed the EU’s political stance against the US’ unilateral measures, but went on to object to the slow process of the bloc’s measures getting in place.

He stressed that time is of utmost importance with regard to the SPV and it is running out.

The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is EU’s promised trade mechanism with Iran which aims to bypass the US financial system, and avoid any impact of America's secondary sanctions. According to EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, the instrument is slated to be established “in the coming weeks before the end of the year.”

For her part, Tarja Cronberg noted her constructive meetings with Iranian officials on the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA, saying EU is looking for ways to preserve the agreement.

She stressed the EU’s commitment to the JCPOA, saying the agreement is a good model for settling political disputes, and hailed Iran for being among the first countries to promote the idea of the Middle East nuclear weapon free zone.

She further highlighted the significance of preserving the JCPOA by both Iran and the European Union.

In a related front, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini announced on Monday that the EU will establish the non-dollar transaction mechanism to facilitate trade with Iran in the near future.

"I will expect this instrument to be established in the coming weeks before the end of the year as a way to protect and promote legitimate business," Mogherini told reporters in Brussels.

Mogherini, however, declined to reveal more details on the financial mechanism.

The EU foreign policy chief reiterated that the EU foreign ministers all agree on the preservation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Iran's compliance with the JCPOA has been confirmed by the IAEA thirteen times so far," Mogherini said, adding that Europe expects Iran to remain committed to the deal as usual.

She also underlined that the special financial mechanism, also known as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to continue trade with Iran under US sanctions, will be put into operation in the coming weeks.

The SPV which was promised by Iran’s key European trading partners back in September after a meeting of foreign ministers of the remaining signatories to Iran nuclear on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal is supposed to keep Iran’s financial relations with Europe alive under the US sanctions.

Europeans' honesty in dealing with Iran nuclear deal of July 14, 2015 is seriously doubted by Iranian masses that are discontent with talks with European counterparts.

In contrast with what European politicians and government are stating, many experts in Iran are suspicious of Europe's genuine commitment to the letters of the nuclear agreement of July 14, 2015, and are voicing their discontent with what they describe as Europe's strategy of killing time.

Even some commentators like Seyed Mostafa Khoshchashm are calling the Iranian government to start meaningful modifications in JCPOA undertakings, and specially remove the cap on the country's enriched uranium stockpile after the US unilateral withdrawal from the agreement; a call which is gaining momentum among the Iranians.