EU plan to enable non-dollar Iran trade, oil sales unravelling -diplomats
PARIS/VIENNA/BRUSSELS - A special European Union initiative to protect trade with Iran against newly reimposed US sanctions faces possible collapse with no EU country willing to host the operation for fear of provoking US punishment.
EU diplomats said the main European powers - Germany, France and Britain - would raise pressure on tiny Luxembourg to host the so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) after Austria refused to manage the plan and left it on the brink of collapse.
The stakes are high, for Iran has warned it could scrap a 2015 accord on curbing its nuclear programme reached with world powers, including the big EU trio, if the bloc fails to preserve the deal's economic benefits against US pressure.
The SPV is a kind of clearing house that could be used to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods in an effective barter arrangement circumventing US sanctions, based on global use of the dollar for oil sales.
