To save the Iran nuclear deal by bypassing US sanctions, the European Union has designed a payment mechanism which diplomats said is now ready. But it’s not going anywhere due to disagreements among European countries.
Germany, France and Britain are behind the so-called “Special Purpose Vehicle.” The three countries are the European signatories to the 2015 accord that curbed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief.
As reported by the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the entity, to be based in France with German governance and finance from all three countries, will allow Iran to receive payments despite Washington reimposing sanctions after ditching the deal.
“It will be registered, it is not yet registered. I would say that we are immediately before the point of the implementation of our plan,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at a meeting in Brussels organised by the Belgian government.
While the vehicle is the work of the three governments involved, the EU wants to launch it along with a formal statement on Iran endorsed by all 28 member states and addressing the whole spectrum of European concerns about the Islamic republic.
