TEHRAN – An expert on international affairs says the European countries seem hesitant to open up a banking channel with Iran due to fears of U.S. economic pressure against them.

“In my opinion, the Europeans’ delay is due to political reasons; Europe is deeply concerned about the feedback of its move in the form of U.S. economic pressure against them,” Mehr quoted Nozar Shafiei as saying on Sunday.

They are concerned that U.S. sanctions target European firms, he remarked, stressing that such issues, and not technical matters, are behind Europe’s disability to establish the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

MH/PA