Iran says INSTEX may come up during talks between Emmanuel Bonne, senior diplomatic aide to the French president and Iranian authorities, stressing that Europeans have failed so far to fully implement the mechanism.
“It’s possible that the issue of INSTEX be raised during Mr Bonne’s visit on Wednesday,” said Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi in a press conference in Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Emmanuel Bonne is expected to arrive in Tehran on Wednesday. His visit is meant to negotiate with high-level Iranian authorities to explore ways to stop the nuclear deal from falling apart.
France, as well as Germany and the UK, is one of the signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and also one of the creators of the European trade mechanism with Iran, INSTEX.
The three European countries, also known as the E3, created a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in January called Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) in a bid to keep trade ties with Iran in the wake of US sanctions.
However, six months on, the channel hasn’t had any financial transaction between the E3 and Iran.
“We believe that INSTEX is a prelude to Europe’s nuclear commitments to fulfill the 11 commitments they declared again following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal,” Mousavi added during the presser.
“But, they have failed so far to implement the channel. I don’t know more about its details but the mere fact that it has been set up,” he stressed.
Iran set up and registered a counterparty to INSTEX, called Special Trade and Financing Instrument between Iran and Europe (STFI) to facilitate the trade.
In an interview with Iran Chamber Newsroom, STFI Preisdent Ali Asqar Nuri said the two channels are being tested at the moment.