Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said in a Monday press conference that signals received from Europe indicate that the bloc is still determined to finalize the scheme.
“We feel that, despite difficulties and pressures, Europe is still determined to operationalize the [payment] system, so we cannot say for certain that it will not be activated,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif had earlier voiced dismay over the EU’s slower-than-expected progress in establishing the payment system, saying that Iran would not wait forever for Europe, according to Financial Tribune.
“We continue to work with the Europeans for the special purpose vehicle but we are not waiting for them … We are working with our traditional partners like India, like China, like Russia,” he said during a recent trip to India.
SPV is aimed at enabling non-dollar trade with Iran to bypass US sanctions reimposed after it withdrew from the multinational 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
Europeans hoped to have it in place by November 2018, when the oil and banking sanctions took effect, but the project has so far been plagued by delays.
Iran has shown patience with Europe but has warned that their time would not be endless.
Nevertheless, a recent article by Politico stated that the SPV will probably be launched in mid-January, around the third anniversary of the implementation of the nuclear deal.