CBI chief criticizes EU for procrastination over INSTEX

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in a message criticized Europeans for their repetitive remarks for implementing the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).

If Europeans are concerned about the US reaction to EU states exports of goods to Iran, they can test their ability by exporting emergency supplies and medicine, Abdolnasser Hemmati, said in an Instagram post.

He added that Europe has focused on setting up a financial mechanism for trade with Iran over the past year and finally they declared three months ago that it is operational.

It is for about two months that Special Trade and Finance Instrument between Iran and Europe (STFI), called SATMA in Persian has been established in Iran and its managers were also introduced to Europe, he noted. 

He described repetition of sentences like 'we are seeking INSTEX' by European officials as thread-bare, saying the simplest way for making operational INSTEX and the Iranian parallel system of SATMA is to grant a letter of credit to European exporters to Iran.

The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) was adopted by foreign ministers of the European trio on the sidelines of a European Union summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest on January 1.

INSTEX has been registered at the address of France's Economy and Finance Ministry in Paris. German banker Per Fischer has been chosen for a period of six months to run it.

Earlier, Ali Asghar Nouri, CEO of SATMA, Iran's special financial channel for trade responded to the remarks made by German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr holding Iran is responsible for delay in starting INSTEX, saying based on the text of Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), other signatories, especially Europeans are responsible for guaranteeing Iran's economic interests.

He added that any measures taken by Iran based on the INSTEX is regarded as an aid for Europe to accomplish its commitments to the JCPOA.

He referred to establishing INSTEX parallel mechanism in Iran, saying Iran is ready to start the process if Europe is ready.

He stressed the fact that INSTEX will minimize the economic interactions of the two sides meaning that these issues will be of less importance until both sides' banks have direct interactions.

News ID 190311

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