Countries Dissolve Alternative Europe-Iran Payment System
The countries behind INSTEX, the European payment system designed to allow countries to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions (see 1907010057 and 1905300035), said they will dissolve the system because of hurdles created by Iran. In a March 9 joint statement, Germany, France and the U.K. said Iran agreed only to a “single transaction” (see 2004010016) and “consistently and deliberately blocked other proposals for transactions.”
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The countries said this was “born from a political determination to impede the use of INSTEX,” which was designed to help European countries ship medical goods and other humanitarian-related items to Iran. “In light of Iran’s persistent refusal to engage with the company, the INSTEX shareholders have reached the conclusion that there is no more ground for maintaining INSTEX operational.”