Following the unprecedented sanctions against the Iranian regime, in order to preserve the appeasement policy, Europe pretended to be able to overcome the difficulties caused by the sanctions via an EU special purpose vehicle (SPV).
But what is EU special purpose vehicle?
EU special purpose vehicle is to bypass sanctions, and it is about exporting oil by the Iran regime to a buyer (country) in Europe, the purchase money of which will then be deposited in an account called SPV. If the regime needs to purchase any goods or services from the EU countries, the money would be paid from the SPV. It means that no money is paid to the regime.
But SPV in turn, is still a theory because no country is willing to host it.
This EU special purpose vehicle seems more like a propaganda than an economic solution to solve the regime’s breath-taking economic crises.
According to a regime media, the scheme is more like bartering goods (oil) for goods , which means that “according to EU special purpose vehicle, the company that buys oil from Iran, instead of paying to Iran, will pay the money, directly or indirectly, to the company that sells goods to Iran “(ISNA news agency September 29, 2018)
The regime calls this plan as a great step or a protective umbrella to save Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), but even Zarif does not have much hope for this plan, in an interview in New York Zarif said: “If the EU special purpose vehicle proves ineffective, we might get out of JCPOA.” (Fars News Agency, September 30, 2018)
Werner Hoyer, president of the European Investment Bank, said that despite the EU’s support, the bank cannot accept the risk of financial relations with Iran.
“I understand the pressure of some governments of the European Commission and others, but the European Investment Bank is probably the worst tool for doing so,” Hoyer told Devex website.
“If member states want to support business companies going to Iran, they should choose other tools that cannot be easily targeted by the United States,” added Hoyer, “This means the European Investment Bank is a wrong tool”.
During an interview on Tuesday, November 13, Austrian foreign ministry spokesman Peter Ozhelbauer said: “After serious research on this issue, Austrian government concluded that it is not in a position to accept the hosting of this institution at this time.”
Meanwhile, Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union said last month that EU special purpose vehicle for sustaining the JCPOA would not be successful, as companies and international business organizations would not cooperate with it.
“Some analysts believe that the European Union’s action is more like an iconic aspect and some consider it ineffective,” the ISNA news agency said. (ISNA news agency- September 29, 2018)
Some experts think of this “special purpose vehicle” as oil for food.
In his speech, John R. Bolton, the national security adviser said: “We do not intend to allow our sanctions to be evaded by Europe or anybody else.”
But the regime has shrouded this SPV in secrecy and says:
“For specific reasons and the pressure that the United States has applied to all the countries of the world to prevent cooperation with Iran, dedicating time and money to it, the special purpose vehicle discussed between Iran and Europe, will not be publicized.”(Bahram Ghasemi, ISNA News Agency, Oct 1, 2018)
But the question is, if this “EU special purpose vehicle” is so strong that the United States cannot stop it, then why do they fear to publicize it?
Therefore, it’s crystal clear that there is no way out of this deadlock for the regime.
Consequently, after the large European companies’ withdrawal from Iran, the European’s special purpose vehicle will not cure Rouhani’s and Khamenei’s dilemma, and it is nothing but a mirage.