Tehran considers the first transaction within the INSTEX mechanism, which is designed to allow countries to bypass US sanctions and continue trade with Iran, to be a good sign and hopes the practice will be continued, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday
TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2020) Tehran considers the first transaction within the INSTEX mechanism, which is designed to allow countries to bypass US sanctions and continue trade with Iran, to be a good sign and hopes the practice will be continued, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday.
On March 31, France, Germany and the UK confirmed that the INSTEX mechanism was successfully used for the first time since its formal announcement two years ago. The transaction was a payment for medical goods from Europe to Iran amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"Iran expects that they will fulfill the remaining obligations [within the nuclear deal] in various fields, including in banking, energy, transport and others, according to which the interaction could take place within INSTEX. We consider the launch of the mechanism as a good sign," Mousavi said at a press conference.
The spokesman noted that the launch of the mechanism was not an obligation of the European signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but rather a tool to fulfill the nuclear deal after the US withdrawal.
The JCPOA was launched by China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and the European Union in 2015 and required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief. In 2018, the United States abandoned its conciliatory policy on Iran and hit Iranian petroleum industries with sanctions. As a response to the US withdrawal, Iran also discontinued its commitments.
