Not fully implemented, INSTEX not efficient: Araghchi
According To Iran News, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi called the European Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) a weak mechanism, which has not been comprehensively implemented and has bot been efficient by the present time.
“This financial system has been suggested too late and [it] operates at a low level. It has not been yet fully implemented,” Araghchi said.
He also stressed that this system “will be successful if the Europeans buy oil from Iran, as Iran’s main export to Europe is oil. If not, there will be not a large amount of money left for trade in accordance with this tool.”
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the INSTEX mechanism still remained on paper.
As Marc Finaud, the former French Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in mid-October, the INSTEX mechanism is operational but has a limited scope. “Regarding US sanctions in other areas, European companies may be deterred by the impact of secondary sanctions and will most likely not sacrifice their interests on the American market if they have less stakes in Iran. Unfortunately, the EU can offer some legal protection, but the ultimate decisions will be made by the companies.”
US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the JCPOA, which was signed by world powers, in May 2018, and has since reinstated old sanctions and imposed new ones on Tehran in the hope of crippling its economy and forcing it into falling in line.
INSTEX was then set up by France, Germany and the United Kingdom in January as a way of continuing business operations with Iran and ease non-dollar trade in the wake of renewed US sanctions following Washington’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May 2018.
But in reality, not much has been achieved. Trade with Iran has not surged via INSTEX, and Europe has not stood up to the US over its illegal sanctions and unceremonious withdrawal from the historic deal. And yet Iran is the signatory being asked to cooperate.
