Salehi: EU’s Trade Mechanism Hopefully to Be Launched by Year End

Iran’s nuclear chief Ali-Akbar Salehi said Thursday that Europe’s promised trade mechanism aimed at facilitating trade with Iran in the face of US sanctions will hopefully come into effect by the end of December.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali-Akbar Salehi, said the Iran-EU trade mechanism, also known as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), is in its final stage.

Since gaining a consensus among all the 27 EU member states is not a simple task, the EU has promised to make utmost efforts in order to implement the mechanism, Salehi added.

The nuclear chief maintained that once SPV is launched, all of EU’s oil deals with other countries, which accounts for over €300 billion, will only be carried out in euro and consequently, the US dollar will disapear in transactions.

Up until now, the European Union has been paying 85% of oil purchases from other countries in dollars, Salehi said, adding, “with the implementation of this mechanism, EU will pay all relevant costs in euro instead of dollar.”

In response to a question on what decision will be adopted by the Iranian government in case EU’s package of proposals does not meet Iran’s expectations, Salehi said “the EU’s package will be compiled and formulated in Iran in consultations with our experts and fellow colleagues.”