Iranian Speaker Deplores Futility of INSTEX
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Parliament speaker denounced the fruitlessness of a payment channel that the three EU signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have set up to maintain trade with Tehran.
“Despite the multiple negotiations that were held, the French president’s promise to Iran’s president to save the JCPOA was not fulfilled. In fact, it should be said that the INSTEX mechanism has remained on the paper,” Ali Larijani said in a meeting with Chairwoman of the French National Assembly’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Marielle de Sarnez, held in Tehran on Saturday.
The INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) is a payment channel that France, Germany and Britain –the three European signatories to the JCPOA- have devised to continue trade with Tehran and bypass the US embargoes.
The European payment channel, however, has not brought about any change in Iran’s foreign trade.
In the gathering in Tehran, Larijani also highlighted the significance of economic interaction between Tehran and Paris, adding, “France can play a role in the region very well.”
For her part, the French lawmaker emphasized the significance of parliamentary ties between Iran and France, saying the MPs of the two nations can play a significant role in tough conditions.
Expressing France’s support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, de Sarnez said her country intends to bring INSTEX into force.
France and the European Union are determined to achieve the purpose of saving the Iran nuclear deal, she added.
In May 2018, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, the nuclear deal that was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.
