The United Kingdom, Germany, and France have created a new payments system to allow European businesses to trade with Iran without falling foul of U.S. sanctions.

The special purpose vehicle (SPV), called the Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), is meant to enable companies to continue trade with Iran—though presently only for those food, pharmaceutical and medical products which are not subject to sanctions.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...