Alwaght- Nathalie Tocci, special adviser to the European Union foreign policy chief, said on Monday eight more EU countries have joined INSTEX, the mechanism set up to trade with Iran while circumventing US sanctions, and another two are set to follow.
“Apart from the three countries that initiated the creation of the mechanism – France, Germany and Great Britain – eight more EU member states have decided to join. Two more countries are expected to follow in their footsteps,” Nathalie Tocci, an aide to Mogherini, said on the sidelines of the Valdai Club meeting in Sochi.
While Tocci did not mention which countries were joining the exchange, Sweden and Belgium have both said they plan to join, and membership was opened up to all EU countries in June, five months after the exchange’s creation.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for Iranians to “give up hope on Europeans” last week, slamming the country’s European partners in the deal for failing to do their part to keep it afloat after the US pulled out and unilaterally reimposed sanctions last year. Iran has been gradually withdrawing from the deal’s provisions as the months pass with what it sees as insufficient action from the Europeans, but has stressed that it can reverse course should Europe step up to save the deal.
