Pointing to a recent action by Germany, Britain and France, creating a special trade channel with Iran called INSTEX, Abbas Araqchi criticized the length of the process of forming this mechanism and said on Monday: “We expect the European side to make a more serious effort for practical and tangible results, making INSTEX operational as soon as possible.”

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

Speaking with German Foreign Office’s Director for relations with the Middle East and North Africa, Philip Ackermann in Tehran, Araqchi added: “Preserving the JCPOA is not achieved only through political will, and Europe has to take practical steps in this regard,” Iran Press reported.

The official called on Germany and other European countries to accelerate the implementation of ‘INSTEX’ – the long-awaited mechanism created for facilitating trade with Iran – saying Tehran expects the Europeans to pace up the implementation of the mechanism to show their commitment Iran’s nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Ackermann, for his part, once again expressed the German government’s support for preservation of JCPOA.

He said despite Washington’s unification with Europe, Germany is opposed to the US’s unilateral actions and reimposition of sanctions against the Islamic republic.

The official hailed Iran’s commitment to its obligations regarding the pact, saying everyone will do his best to stay in the deal.

Meanwhile Senior diplomats from Iran, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, and the European Union plan to hold another round of talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna to discuss ways to save the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Representatives from Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA are slated to attend the Joint Commission meeting in Vienna today.

Bilateral and multilateral talks between Iran and other parties have opened at expert levels since Monday.

The two sides are discussing ways to deal with the negative effects of the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement and re-imposition of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Earlier on November 26, Araqchi who was one of top nuclear negotiators during the tough talks leading up to the JCPOA, told a seminar on peaceful nuclear cooperation between Iran and the European Union in Brussels that the JCPOA was an important achievement both for Iran and the EU.