Iranian officials have announced that a special channel to conduct trade with European countries has been established and will be implemented soon in order to facilitate trade while bypassing US sanctions and keeping the Iran nuclear deal alive.
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and one of the top nuclear negotiators of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) said Dec. 6 at the sidelines of a conference in Iran, “For some time, the Europeans have been committed to helping Iran compensate for the damages it has incurred as a result of the JCPOA and to create a mechanism so that Iran can benefit from the economic conditions of the JCPOA.”
“One of the plans recommended is an SPV [Special Purpose Vehicle], which, according to European officials, is being finalized,” Salehi said. “Given that creating a consensus between 27 members of the European Union is not an easy task, the Europeans have stated that they will put all of their efforts into completing this.” He added, “Based on the promises the Europeans have given, by the end of the current year, the European package will be operational.”
Salehi said that one of the ideas being discussed is for Europe to buy all of its oil in Euros rather than dollars. According to Salehi, Europe spends 300 billion euros to buy oil and was purchasing 85% of this figure in dollars.