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Iran remains hopeful that Europe can salvage nuclear deal: Foreign ministry

Trump announced US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement in May. The first of the reintroduced sanctions began in August
One of the chief targets of fresh US sanctions will be the rial, Iran's ailing currency (AFP)

Iran said it remains hopeful that its 2015 nuclear deal can be salvaged by European powers despite America's withdrawal from the historic agreement, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday. 

Speaking to a live news conference in Tehran, Bahram Qasemi reiterated that Tehran was "hopeful" that European countries could salvage the deal. 

"There are some ambiguities on the implementation of the EU's mechanism to protect trade with Iran from America's sanctions," said Qasemi.  

"But we remain hopeful that the Europeans can save the deal." 

In October, the Trump administration restored sanctions targeting Iran's banking, oil, and transportation sector. The restoration of sanctions comes after other signatories of the historic deal, including the European Union, attempted to salvage the deal, following Trump's declaration to cancel the nuclear agreement.  

Following the withdrawal of the US, the other parties - Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the EU - vowed to provide Iran with enough economic benefits to keep the agreement alive.

But Tehran is increasingly sceptical that other signatories can counter the effects of renewed US sanctions, which have already battered Iran's economy.


The SPV had been conceived as a clearinghouse that could be used to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods, circumventing US sanctions based on the global use of the dollar for oil sales.

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"We expect EU to implement the SPV as soon as possible," Qasemi said. "Iran adheres to its commitments as long as other signatories honour theirs."

