According to Reuters, a day after the United States announced that it would not reissue exemptions for buyers of Iranian oil that expire in early May, the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the ‘Instex’ mechanism set up by France, Britain and Germany for Iran to circumvent US sanctions is making positive progress.
“The work that has been put in place is making positive progress, with a view to an eventual conclusion. Iran must also, for its part, make progress on its equivalent counterparty,” said the French foreign ministry in an electronic briefing, Reuters's report added.
France also reiterated its support for a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
Instex was conceived as a way to help match Iranian oil and gas exports with purchases of EU goods, but those ambitions have been toned down as the European countries are not going to buy any oil from Iran in line with the US sanctions. Reuters quoted European diplomats as saying that, realistically, the trade mechanism will be used only for smaller transactions such as purchases of humanitarian products or food.
KI/PR