Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, urged Europeans on Wednesday 10 October to put their words into action to save the Iranian nuclear deal.
At a joint hearing of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and international trade committee, he said it was time for the political will to be translated into tangible, concrete results. He said it was time for Europeans to offer what they wish because it will soon be too late.
In his view, time is running out and they need to know exactly what losses will arise from the United States’ approach and how they can be compensated. He added that his country’s future depended on what the EU would decide, which should find a detailed and comprehensive system to save the deal.
Like other Iranian leaders before him, Takht-Ravanchi said it was essential for the 'special purpose vehicle' or SPV to be set up by 4 November and the reintroduction of American penalties on the banking and energy sectors (see EUROPE 12103). He said the freedom of economic operators to trade with Iran must be protected and this should allow the sale of Iranian oil and gas and the transfer of income from these sales. However, a European source says that a number of technical solutions are being examined, and it could take a number of weeks of work to come up with the final product.
Moreover, the Iranian officials denounced the supremacy of the US dollar in international trade, saying that the United States used their dollar as a Titanic-scale weapon of war. French MEP Tokia Saïfi (EPP) said use of the euro for international transactions would seem obvious, and its place on the markets must be strengthened.
Some MEPs threatened the United States with reprisals. Eleonora Forenza (GUE/NGL, Italy) said one should penalise US companies that act in Europe to make the US understand that one will not put up in silence with action that jeopardises our companies. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)