Zarif: Europe is pursuing a financial mechanism for trade with Iran confidentially

Iran's Foreign Minister says that Europe is pursuing the registration and implementation of its special financial mechanism for continuing trade with Iran confidentially to avoid U.S. pressures. Mohammad Javad Zarif promised on Wednesday, December 5, that this financial mechanism will soon be registered. The European Union's plan, titled "Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges" (INSTEX), was initially supposed to be implemented simultaneously with the full return of U.S. sanctions against Iran, but its implementation has faced challenges, the most significant being the refusal of some EU countries to host it, including Austria and Luxembourg, which have not agreed to register the office related to this mechanism there. However, in his statements on Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Minister announced the finalization of the issue and said: "The news we heard last week during our trips to Brussels and Geneva is that final agreements have been made, and we will soon witness the registration of the financial mechanism." He then stated: "Since the Americans want to prevent any developments as soon as they learn about them, the Europeans have decided to pursue this plan confidentially to reach a conclusion." Previously, Iranian Foreign Ministry officials expressed dissatisfaction with the prolonged process of implementing the EU's special financial mechanism, stating that the EU was incapable of resisting the U.S. and bringing the plan to fruition. The European financial mechanism is designed to facilitate barter trade with Iran, meaning that the money from Iran's oil exports to European countries will be compensated by the sale of goods and services from Europe to Iran. However, the U.S. has described this plan as a mistake by Europe regarding Iran. "Iranian missiles are designed only for conventional weapons". Part of Mohammad Javad Zarif's statements on Wednesday also addressed the issue of Iran's missile testing. The U.S. claimed last week that Iran tested a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, thus violating UN Security Council Resolution 2231. This issue has also reached the UN Security Council, where the U.S. representative called for Iran's condemnation. However, Mr. Zarif emphasized that Iran has no program to produce nuclear weapons and therefore does not design any missiles to carry nuclear weapons. He stated: "The missiles of the Islamic Republic are designed only for conventional weapons, considering that they are precision-guided." The Iranian Foreign Minister also referred to UN Security Council Resolution 2231, stating that "the Americans have declared in both the previous and current administrations that neither the JCPOA nor this resolution limits Iran's missile activities." He continued: "Both Ms. Sherman during the negotiations and Mr. Brian Hook two months ago said that Resolution 2231 requests Iran regarding a specific type of missile." UN Security Council Resolution 2231, issued after the 2015 Vienna nuclear agreement, called on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.