At a meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna on 28 June, France, Germany and the UK, as the European sides to the agreement, announced that INSTEX, EU’s trade mechanism for Iran aimed at skirting US sanctions, had been made operational and available to all EU Member States and that the first transactions are being processed.
Reacting to the announcement, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Abolfazl Hassanbeigi, told Mehr correspondent that Europe has always had the US’ interests at heart.
“After the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, Europe did nothing to implement this international agreement, and only bought time to keep Iran committed to the deal,” he said.
“Europe’s promises aim to buy time for the US,” he said, adding “Iran is not hopeful about Europe’s commitments to the deal.”
He went on to add, “if the JCPOA has no benefit for us, there is no reason for it to have benefits for Europeans and Americans. Iran must keep its promise on reducing commitments to the JCPOA.”
“As long as Europe has not taken a practical measure to live up to its commitments regarding the JCPOA, and trade and banking transactions with Iran, any backtrack on our position is a mistake,” he stressed.
MS/4653900