The European Union will officially announce in the coming week the launch of a special payment channel aimed at circumventing the United States’ sanctions to facilitate trade with Iran, informed European sources said.
The sources told the Iranian Diplomacy news website that the process of making decisions over details of the financial mechanism is complete and final consultations will be held by the EU in the next couple of days before officially announcing its launch next week.
The payment channel, formally known as the Special Purpose Vehicle, was proposed by Europe as part of its efforts to safeguard Iran’s interests under the multinational 2015 nuclear agreement from which the US unilaterally withdrew last year and reimposed the lifted sanctions.
It was pledged to be activated by November, simultaneously with the enactment of the harsh oil and banking sanctions. Later, the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, told reporters that it was expected by early 2019.
However, it has not yet become operational, which constitutes a delay of over two months.
Major Impediment
Apart from the difficulty of the task, as EU officials have frequently pointed out, the US pressure poses a major impediment to the plan’s implementation as smaller European countries refuse to cooperate for fear of Washington’s penalties.
Iranian officials have acted patiently and allowed Europe time to make the required arrangements, but have frequently warned that this situation cannot continue forever and Tehran will take reciprocal action once it loses all hope of SPV.
In a recent interview, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reminded the EU that Iran would not wait for their practical measures if they are uncertain about “paying the price” of saving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the nuclear deal.
“We assume that Europe would not face the risk of standing up to the US and, therefore, try to address the country’s issues by relying on our national capabilities,” he said.
"The EU cannot expect Iran to renounce the right of reciprocal action granted to it by JCPOA."
Meanwhile, Tehran has been conducting negotiations with neighbors and major business partners, including Iraq, Turkey and India, to foster mutual cooperation against the deterrent force of US policies.
SPV is set to be registered in France, run by Germany and will likely include Britain as a shareholder.
The sources also said that the system’s activation will be announced by the European Union.
