Iran will boost trade with India as the European Union struggles to find a way to circumvent a fresh US embargo on Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Tuesday.
Brussels is working on a payment mechanism to keep financial transactions flowing with Iran, after the US ditched the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran earlier this year and reintroduced a raft of sanctions on the country.
But Zarif told reporters in New Delhi that the EU’s delay in implementing the system meant Iran would look elsewhere.
“Europeans have made efforts but couldn’t… progress up to our expectations. We will expand our cooperation via various channels such as India,” Zarif said after meeting India’s transport minister, as quoted by Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA.
The EU hopes its “special purpose vehicle” (SPV) announced in September will keep the nuclear deal alive and persuade Tehran to stay on board by giving companies a way of trading with Iran without violating Washington’s sanctions.