INSTEX is a bucket with no water, says security comsn. chair

The EU’s trade mechanism for Iran in its current form is like a bucket with no water and is useless to us, says chairman of the Parliament’s national security commission, stressing that Iran would take the third step in cutting JCPOA commitments much firmer than before.

Speaking to Mehr correspondent on Wednesday, Mojtaba Zonnour, Chairman of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said the Europeans’ performance regarding their commitments to the Iran nuclear deal indicates their lack of resolve to implement their trade mechanism for Iran, known as INSTEX.

Noting the US’ withdrawal from the JCPOA, he said “Europe and the US are cut from the same cloth, and are only playing the good cop/bad cop game with us. Europe is only buying time for the US and has done nothing to preserve the nuclear deal.”

Zonnour then described INSTEX as a “bucket with no water” whose output would be of no use to Iran, adding “the EU’s mechanism is said to only cover food and medicine, while INSTEX is supposed to facilitate Iran’s economic ties with all countries in the world.”

“In fact, our banking and monetary ties must be facilitated and we must be able to export our oil to all countries. But INSTEX does not cover our banking transactions and oil revenues and so, it is of no use to us,” he added.

“The mechanism is useful as long as it meets all of our needs; otherwise, we will take the third step in reducing our commitments to the JCPOA much firmer than before,” the chairman stressed.

Source: Mehr