Europe’s failure to reassure Iran makes the future of the nuclear deal more ambiguous

Tabnak – Almost a month after the formal imposition of a new round of American sanctions against Iran, the European parties of the 2015 nuclear deal have yet to fulfill their commitments on finding a way for preserving Iran’s economic benefits of the deal. Iranian officials warn that the current situation cannot be tolerated forever and there’s a risk for the total collapse of the deal.

In this vein, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi says Tehran will not wait forever for the European Union to develop the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), the mechanism aimed at facilitating trade with Iran in the US sanctions era.

In remarks released on Friday, Araqchi pointed to the EU’s effort to save the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and said the European countries have shown their political will but so far, they have failed to develop operational plans to guarantee Iran’s interests in the JCPOA.

Iran is witnessing that there is a lot of pressure from the US and that the technical and legal obstacles on the path are serious, he told IRNA, adding that Europeans are trying to remove the obstacles. The diplomat further emphasized that the Europeans have failed to introduce “operational solutions” but Iran is not going to wait forever and will make necessary decisions at a proper time.

The European Union has vowed to counter US President Donald Trump’s renewed sanctions on Iran, including by means of a new law to shield European companies from punitive measures.

Araqchi had previously warned that the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers will be in danger if European countries fail to fulfill their pledge to ease the US’ pressures and let Iran reap the economic benefits of the deal.

The US’ withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May and its “illegal” move to increase pressure on Tehran upset the balance between the Islamic Republic’s commitments under the deal and the benefits it gained from it, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday.

Under such circumstances, the failure of Europeans and other parties to ease the pressures, as they had promised to, has increased concerns about the future of the nuclear deal, Araqchi said in a meeting with his Belgian counterpart in Brussels.

It should be noted that Luxembourg and Austria, under the US pressure, refused to host the SPV, with Luxembourg officials being warned that hosting the mechanism could damage the country’s place as a major financial center hosting many international investment funds, European diplomats said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the European governments participating in the payment channel will directly manage the clearing house in order to prevent the US from putting direct sanctions on it.

According to the diplomats, British officials are also mulling over joining France and Germany in order to rescue the European attempt to circumvent the US sanctions and salvage the Iran nuclear deal following the US’ withdrawal in May.