Iran Press/Europe: Speaking to reporters and journalists in Vienna on Friday afternoon, Iran's deputy foreign minister expressed satisfaction about the meeting with officials of signatory countries to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying 'good progress' had been made at the meeting, and that the meeting had been positive and constructive.
Araghchi said he will report back to Tehran exactly what had been discussed in Vienna, but he said compared to previous meetings, good progress had been made in Friday's meeting in Vienna.
Asked what were the main topics of discussion, Araghchi said: "Most of our discussions centred around INSTEX, and I can say that the mechanism is now fully operational with two or three transactions now going through INSTEX."
(The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) is a special-purpose vehicle established in January 2019 by France, Germany and the United Kingdom to facilitate non-dollar trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran).
Araghchi added: "The three European countries gave a briefing on INSTEX and the mechanism has become operational. Several European countries have expressed an interest in joining INSTEX and also about buying INSTEX shares, and we very much hope that other European countries join the mechanism and trade with Iran, the door is certainly open to them.
The European countries are also providing limited credit facilities for INSTEX trade with Iran. Our expectations have not been met in full, but sufficient progress has been made for me to report back to Tehran."
Araghchi also said all the participants had agreed that a ministerial level meeting should be held soon, but the venue and the exact date of the meeting had not been agreed upon.
The belated launch of INSTEX, months in the works, came following a dramatic day of diplomatic manoeuvring on Friday meant to save the nuclear deal, but whether sufficient progress has been made in the meeting in Vienna remains to be seen.
The multilateral nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, has been imperilled since the administration of Donald Trump last year pulled out of it and, goaded by Washington hardliners, launched a campaign of maximum pressure on Iran, re-imposing illegal and unilateral sanctions.
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