German diplomat Bock is to head the Iran Trade Institute

Former German diplomat Michael Bock has been appointed as the new chairman of the Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).

Iran Press/Europe: Following talks between the German Foreign Ministry and other European partners, the former 66-year-old German ambassador to Colombia, Egypt and Sweden was elected as the new head of the Instex, the Der Spiegel magazine reported early on Friday morning.

The first German candidate for the Instex leadership, former ambassador Bernd Erbel, had resigned from his post in early August. At that time, the "Bild" had discovered an interview of the diplomat with the controversial journalist Ken Jebsen. In the rather lengthy interview, Erbel said Israel is "more than ever a foreign body in the region." In Iran, on the other hand, "a significant part of life is democratic"

So far, Instex has not done business despite intense efforts. Berlin and Paris had always emphasized that, above all, they wanted to enable businesses to alleviate the worsening supply situation in Iran.

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INSTEX should include Iran's oil sales: Zarif

Under INSTEX, which is exclusive to European businesses, exports to Iran should be compensated by imports from the country. A mirror company in Iran would carry out the same transactions for Iranian companies exporting to and importing from Europe.

However, the mechanism, launched after Washington pulled out of an international deal on Iran nuclear program in May last year, has effectively failed to revive bilateral trade mainly due to a lack of advance funds that could offset the initial exports to Iran.

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INSTEX should include Iran's oil sales: Zarif