"We are in touch with Europe but we are not waiting for Europe. The Europeans have been trying but unfortunately, they have not been able to move forward as we have expected them. We are not waiting for them, we are working with our traditional partners like India, China and Russia so that we are working in the interests of our people", Zarif said, as quoted by the IRNA news agency.
The statement comes after the Iranian Foreign Ministry criticized last week the European Union for delaying the establishment of a so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which aims to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and bypass unilateral US sanctions.
The Foreign Ministry said that the European Union was responsible for not implementing the SVP, and called on the block to think about possible consequences.
READ MORE: Iran Has More Potential Oil Buyers Despite US Sanctions — Deputy Minister
Following a September ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, Russia and Iran announced that the European Union would establish a financial mechanism to enable trade with Iran after a decision of the United States to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
Following the United States's withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal, and Washington has re-imposed a series of sanctions against Tehran that had been lifted under the agreement. The first package of the US restrictions came into force in August. In early November, Washington imposed sanctions targeting core sectors of Iran's economy.
