France, Germany "trying to preserve SPV" to maintain trade with Iran

PanARMENIAN.Net - Director of Iran project at Crisis Group Ali Vaez said that France and Germany are trying to rescue the Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to maintain trade with the Islamic Republic, IRNA reports.

Vaez made the remarks Tuesday, November 27 in a tweet.

France and Germany have joined forces to rescue a European effort to create a payment channel to keep trade flowing with Iran, defying US attempts to take the air out of the plan, Wall Street Journal earlier quoted senior diplomats as saying.

"The steps by Europe’s most powerful countries are part of their campaign to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal after President Trump withdrew the US from the deal in May. Their goal is to help European companies continue some business activity with Iran despite sweeping new US sanctions on the country and any company that does business with it."

France or Germany will host the corporation that would handle the payments channel, the diplomats said.

If France hosts it, a German official will head the corporation and vice versa. Both countries will help fund the corporation.

The media went on to say that 'the payments channel, known as a special purpose vehicle, or SPV, would use a system of credits to facilitate compensation for goods traded between Iran and Europe—allowing some trade to proceed without the need for European commercial banks to make or receive payments to Iran'.

Earlier the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini said that SPV aims to create a legal channel for easing financial transactions with Iran.

The idea for creating SPV was first floated in a meeting of foreign ministers from the UK, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting.