Zarif:

7 EU Central Banks to Cooperate with Iran in Sanctions Era

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that so far, the central banks of seven European Union member states have agreed to create a special mechanism to facilitate financial transactions with the Islamic Republic during the era of US sanctions.

News ID: 72745

Date: 29 September 2018 - 11:54

The Europeans have made extensive efforts (to save the 2015 nuclear deal) over the past few months, Zarif said on Friday night.

At least seven central banks have agreed to create a special financial mechanism to connect with Iran and turn it into an institution in the future, he added.

This is a useful solution because financial institutions, which work mostly with the US dollar and might be sanctioned for trading with Iran, can become immune from US sanctions, the Iranian top diplomat said.

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.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.

Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

He said the US policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.

Trump also restated his opinion that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a “horrible, one-sided deal”.

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