France, Germany and Britain have opened a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran to avert U. S. sanctions, although diplomats say it is unlikely to allow for the big transactions that Tehran says it needs to keep a nuclear deal afloat.
PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) – France, Germany and Britain have opened a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran to avert U. S. sanctions, although diplomats say it is unlikely to allow for the big transactions that Tehran says it needs to keep a nuclear deal afloat.
Washington’s major European allies opposed last year’s decision by U. S. President Donald Trump to abandon the 2015 deal, under which international sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for Tehran accepting curbs on its nuclear program.
Iran has threatened to pull out of the deal unless the European powers enable it to receive economic benefits. The Europeans have promised to help companies do business with Iran as long as it abides by the deal.
“It is a political act,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters after a meeting of EU counterparts in Bucharest. “It is a gesture to protect European companies.”
Washington says that, although Iran has met the terms, the accord was too generous, failing to rein in Iran’s ballistic missile program or curb its regional meddling.
New U. S. sanctions have largely succeeded in persuading European companies to abandon business with Iran, and Washington said on Thursday that it did not expect the EU effort, known as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), to change that.
