On Monday, the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said that the foreign ministers of the remaining signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) had agreed to create a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that would facilitate trade between European companies and Iran amid US sanctions against Tehran. Mogherini explained that the legal entity would be established to enable European companies to continue legitimate transactions with Iran in accordance with the EU legislation. On Tuesday, Mogherini said the SPV could be in place before November.
"In line with the European negotiations, the mechanism of the banking and trade transactions will be implemented before the second round of the US sanctions begins … The Europeans should set up the proposed mechanism before the announced US sanctions against the oil and banking sectors [come into force] on November 4. Or, at least, its structure should be determined and the implementation of a part of these mechanisms should begin," Araghchi said in an interview with the IRNA news agency, published late on Friday.
The United States, which has insisted that Iran violated the JCPOA, announced its withdrawal from the pact in May, meaning that its sanctions will be re-imposed on Iran. In the wake of this move, the remaining parties of the multilateral pact — China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union — have reaffirmed their commitment to the agreement.
In August, the first round of the US sanctions against Iran was reinstated. US President Donald Trump said during his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that the next round of the restrictions will be re-imposed on Iran on November 5, after which Washington will introduce more sanctions against Tehran.
The US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the re-introduction of its sanctions have repeatedly been condemned by Tehran which has maintained it complied with the JCPOA requirements.