Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Dec. 18, 2018 – At a time when the deadline for the Iranian regime’s response to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) convention to clarify the fate of Europe’s “special purpose vehicle” fast approaches, Tehran’s FATF policy still remains anyone's guess.
Regarding the SPV – intended to provide a U.S. sanction bypassing mechanism for Europe and the Iranian regime – there are conflicting indications from inside the Iranian regime. Various signs indicate the regime is in desperate need of life support from the European Union, while others view this need as a very lethal soft spot for the regime in its entirety.
Vatan-e Emrooz daily, known to be close to the faction affiliated to the Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, referred to France and the United Kingdom taking a common position at the recent United Nations Security Council meeting against the Iranian regime’s policies on ballistic missiles and its role in the region. It appears there are figures in Tehran willing to maintain the regime’s political and economic relations with Europe at all costs, even if it means the mullahs losing their diplomatic “prestige” and Iranian regime diplomats being jailed in Europe, the piece reads in part.
Figures close to Khamenei believe the European Union is playing a political hand by delaying the SPV launch and holding everything to the account of the Iranian regime being registered in the FATF action list. If so, the SPV would be useless, the Europeans argue, while Iranian regime officials are becoming all the more suspicious.
The Europeans have recently raised very serious concerns over the Iranian regime’s foiled terror plots on their soil, including back in March in Albania, late June in France and in October in Denmark. This has pushed back the SPV launching and forced the European to think twice about their future relations with Tehran.
The Europeans are also concerned about Tehran’s ballistic missile program, with the regime’s missiles now capable of reaching various capitals in southeast Europe, including Vienna. All the while, Iran’s regime continues to test ballistic missiles – in an effort to save face back home – and complicating diplomatic and economic efforts with Europe as a result.
It is crystal clear that the mullahs’ regime ruling Iran is waste-deep in numerous crises, knowing the international community is now demanding major concessions regarding its ballistic missile and regional policies. Khamenei knows he has no choice but to choose a policy that will buy him time and push back the inevitable end.
There is a difficult decision before him and Khamenei knows better than all parties that he will be choosing between bad and worse, with no light at the end of the tunnel.
