UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The European Union will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran in light of the U.S. withdrawal from the international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program and the re-imposition of sanctions, said EU's foreign and security policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday.

The legal entity will allow European companies to continue to trade with Iran in accordance with EU law, Mogherini told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York.

The entity could be open to other partners in the world, Mogherini said after she attended a ministerial meeting of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia -- the five remaining powers of the 2015 agreement after the withdrawal of Washington -- and Iran.