European Solutions Offer Little Hope for Iran in the Face of US Sanctions

The decision by the United States to pull out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) has left Iran and many European nations scrambling to salvage the agreement.  Soon after the U.S. announcement, EU Member States signaled their support for continuing their obligations under the agreement.  To avoid U.S. secondary sanctions, the UK, France, and Germany (the “E3”) have created a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”) in order to facilitate commerce between the European countries and Iran.