“Another chance that remains for Europeans to prove what approach they are going to take is Wednesday’s session of [IAEA] Board of Governors. If Europeans deem America responsible for current problems, one can hope that their route would be separated from US. However, if they address Iran instead of US hostile policies, it would be clear that nothing has changed and that Europe has become a shield for US,” he told Mehr News Agency on Wednesday.
Upon the US request, IAEA Board of Governors will hold a meeting today to discuss latest status of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Iran says US request for a BoG session is a ‘sad irony’ as it was the United States who ruined the deal in the first place.
Iran has announced cuts to its JCPOA commitments after other signatories to the deal failed to comply with their obligations. Iran is asking other signatories to shield its economy from US unilateral sanctions which were imposed after Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018.
Tehran says all its current measures to reduce its JCPOA commitments are according to paragraphs 26 and 36 of the deal.
European countries have established a financial mechanism dubbed INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) which they claim to be operational but its first transactions are yet to be completed. The mechanism aims to facilitate trade with Iran through bypassing US sanctions, however, it will just, at least for now, cover trades regarding food, medicine, and humanitarian aid. Iran says this is not enough and the mechanism should cover oil trades and banking relations as well.
“INSTEX is so absurd that even Europeans are ashamed about announcing the categories and amounts of trades that will be conducted with Iran,” said Asefi.
“Till now, INSTEX has been serving US. This financial mechanism was a tool to buy time for Europe,” he added.
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