German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Mon. that consultations between Germany, France, the UK and the European Union have led to agreement on setting up the Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with Iran soon. “As far as the special purpose vehicle is concerned: it will be registered, it has not yet been registered, but I would say […]
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Mon. that consultations between Germany, France, the UK and the European Union have led to agreement on setting up the Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with Iran soon.
“As far as the special purpose vehicle is concerned: it will be registered, it has not yet been registered, but I would say that the implementation of our plan is imminent,” Maas told reporters after a meeting in Brussels with the participation of representatives of the United Kingdom, France and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Maas said the EU’s aim is to ensure that “business not sanctioned by the US can be upheld, and there is a suitable instrument for international payments.” He said that Germany has been working notably with Britain and France but also other EU partners in recent months to set it up, without providing details.
In early May, US President Donald Trump announced that he was abandoning the Iran nuclear deal which the US had signed with Iran, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany in 2015. Following the unilateral withdrawal, Washington re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, and said punitive measures would target third countries which continue to do business with the Islamic Republic.
Following a September ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the UK, Germany, France, China, Russia and Iran announced that the European Union would establish a financial mechanism to enable trade with Iran to bypass the US sanctions.
Iran says it will remain in the nuclear deal as long as its economic interests are guaranteed. The launch of the SPV has been delayed, which is contribued to the EU’s fear of the US punitive measures.
