Iran urges Europe to compensate for US sanctions’ damage

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Majid Takht-e Ravanchi said that political support of European signatories of JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) is not enough and they should compensate for the damages inflicted on Iran by US sanctions.

News ID: 77202

Date: 04 May 2019 - 11:20

Iran’s criticism against Europe was that the mere political support is not enough, rather, they “should enter the stage and compensate for the inflicted damage,” he told IRNA on Saturday.

US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal, formally known as JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), back in May 2018, vowing to increase pressure against Iran by re-imposing tough sanctions. In their most recent measure, US officials announced that they will not issue any further waivers for countries who want to import Iranian oil, meaning that every state which buys Iranian oil is going to be punished by the US.

This is while EU signatories of JCPOA have not yet implemented necessary measures to counter US sanctions. In late January 2018, Europe announced the establishment of a special trade mechanism dubbed as INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) in a bid to save JCPOA after the withdrawal of the United States. The mechanism, which is yet to prove its effectiveness, is said to initially cover trades of food, medicine and medical devices and to gradually include other areas.

“The formation of INSTEX is a good measure by itself, but it must show in practice that it can compensate for US sanctions,” Takht-e Ravanchi highlighted.

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