In an interview with IRIB on Saturday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said it is the Europeans that are at fault for the delay in implementation of the SPV.
He also warned the EU against the consequences of their failure to carry out their commitment, noting that Iran has so far honored all of its undertakings under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“Iran’s patience is not unlimited, so the European Union is nearing the time to make a strategic decision to choose its path,” he added.
Pointing to the EU’s “serious incapability” to enforce the SPV, the Iranian spokesman said the EU, and even the three European parties to the JCPOA (Britain, France and Germany), are being “held hostage to the US economy”.
“The European countries must pay the price for the independence of their economies from the US,” Qassemi underlined.
EU countries led by France, Germany and Britain, have said they want to enable non-US trade with Iran to continue in defiance of Washington.
The EU has devised the SPV, a financial mechanism, to continue trade with Iran and neutralize the US sanctions against Tehran.
However, the European countries have been criticized for their sluggishness in implementing the SPV.
On May 8, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).