Ghasemi: We Demand Full Implementation of Europe's Commitments as Soon as Possible

Bahram Ghasemi, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, welcomed the announcement of the European Union's financial mechanism, INSTEX, emphasizing, "Iran demands the full implementation of all EU commitments as soon as possible." The spokesperson, like Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, regarded the registration and announcement of the special financial mechanism with Iran as merely "the first step by Europe in fulfilling its commitments to Iran." According to Bahram Ghasemi, "After the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, despite the EU's political positions regarding the preservation of the JCPOA and the necessity of Iran's economic benefits from it, and the limited actions of this union, such as updating the blocking regulations, unfortunately, we have not yet witnessed tangible results and practical actions in favor of Iran." The spokesperson pointed out that this action by the EU occurred "very late" and stressed that the three European countries and the EU must ensure that this action "compensates for part of the illegal U.S. sanctions." INSTEX, a facilitator for trade with Iran or merely a symbolic move? The three European countries, Germany, France, and the UK, announced on Thursday, January 31, the official registration of a special financial mechanism for trade with Iran under the name "INSTEX" (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges), although they conditioned its activation on completing "further work." The statement from these three countries specified that "the establishment of INSTEX is a significant first step taken by these three European countries. The implementation of INSTEX will occur in stages." In their statement, the ministers of these three European countries asked Iran to decisively implement all elements of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) for this mechanism to be usable. The FATF has given Iran several opportunities to approve and implement laws related to preventing money laundering and financing terrorism, but the approval of these bills has faced strong opposition from hardliners and the Revolutionary Guards. The European action was also welcomed by Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, who tweeted his support for the registration of "INSTEX," although he also called it "a very belated first step" by European countries. Abbas Araghchi, Zarif's deputy, also referred to INSTEX as "the first step in a set of commitments" that "Europeans have committed to Iran" in his initial reactions to the announcement of this mechanism by the three European countries in an interview in Bucharest, Romania. The White House warned the Europeans about the registration and launch of the financial channel, stating that if they attempt to bypass sanctions against Iran, they will face "heavy penalties and sanctions." In the U.S., in addition to the government, several Republican representatives in Congress have warned about the launch of this mechanism. Among them, Senator Tom Cotton stated that Europeans "must choose between doing business with Iran or the United States." However, Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, on Thursday, referring to 13 reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency about Iran's "full compliance" with the JCPOA, expressed her support for the EU's financial mechanism for Iran. A report from 16 U.S. intelligence agencies also recently stated that Iran "is not currently pursuing key activities related to the development of nuclear weapons," but at the same time, they still consider Iran's missile program in 2019 a threat to the Middle East. In response to this report from U.S. intelligence agencies, President Donald Trump described their assessment of the threat posed by Iran as "naive."