Iran to Hold 1st Round of Expert-Level Talks On INSTEX in Paris

By Staff, Agencies

Iran, France, Germany and the United Kingdom will soon begin talks in the French capital in an effort to work out the operational details of a newly-launched financial mechanism meant to protect Tehran-Europe trade ties against US sanctions.

On a visit to Paris on Tuesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi agreed with French officials to hold a first round of expert-level discussions in the near future on the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchange [INSTEX], the official name of the non-dollar trade mechanism.

INSTEX was launched last week in a bid to protect European business links with Tehran by circumventing the American bans, which were re-imposed against Iran last year following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA].

The mechanism has been registered in Paris and will be financed jointly by the three European countries and run by a German banker. It is initially intended to be used for selling food, medicine and medical devices to Iran, but it could be expanded to cover other areas of trade in the future.