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PHOTO FILE: A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oilfield near an Iranian flag in the Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS / Raheb Homavandi / File Photo
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran is still hoping its 2015 nuclear deal with the big powers could be saved despite the withdrawal of the United States, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said on Monday.
"There are some ambiguities about the implementation of the EU mechanism to protect trade with Iran from US sanctions … But we still hope that Europeans can save the deal," said Bahram Qasemi at a press conference broadcast live on public television.
Other signatories have been trying to save the deal since May, when US President Donald Trump abandoned it. Washington has reinstated sanctions targeting the oil, banking and transportation sectors in Iran this month.
The European Union is trying to set up a special vehicle for non-monetary exchanges with Iran in order to save the agreement, under which most of the sanctions were lifted in 2016 in exchange for the reduction by Tehran of its nuclear program.
The SPV was designed as a clearing house that can help match Iran's oil and gas exports to EU goods purchases, bypassing US sanctions based on the global use of the dollar for oil sales. .
The EU has attempted to set up the SPV here this month, but no country has offered to host it, six diplomats told Reuters last week.
"We expect the EU to implement the SPV as quickly as possible," Qasemi said. "Iran is honoring its commitments as long as other signatories honor theirs".
Iran has threatened to break the deal if its economic benefits are not preserved.
Written by Parisa Hafezi; edited by Darren Schuettler and John Stonestreet
