Iran Press/Iran news: Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Sunday that the financial mechanism established by European countries known as INSTEX has been activated since last week and Europe has no longer any excuse to postpone the startup of INSTEX any further. The mechanism allows European companies to do business with Iran, and provides them with a way of getting round US unilateral sanctions against Tehran.
Zarif added: "Setting up INSTEX to allow trade with Iran was just an initial step by the Europeans. Last May after US withdrawal from Iran’s nuclear deal, the Europeans undertook a variety of commitments and in order to honor those commitments, it was necessary for Europe to set up INSTEX and make the mechanism operational.
Iran does not await the Europeans
Stressing the fact that the Europeans should be actively involved for a long time in order to catch-up with their backlog of commitments, Zarif highlighted the fact that European signatories to JCPOA are rather behind in terms of setting up the trade mechanism INSTEX and carrying out their commitments. Zarif went on to warn the Europeans by saying: "They should not imagine that Islamic Republic of Iran is waiting for them."
Emphasizing that Iran has a very good relationship with neighboring countries, Zarif concluded by saying that similar financial mechanisms have been activated with neighboring countries allowing trade and business with these countries.
“Mohammad Javad Zarif went on to ask rhetorically: "I do not really know exactly how much time is needed by the Europeans to set up a preliminary trading mechanism with the Islamic Republic of Iran."
Iran's Foreign minister met the Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Senate, Vito Rosario Petrocelli, on Sunday.
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