France 'Determined to Continue' Trade With Iran

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Belgium, May 15, 2018. | Photo: Reuters

France declared on Tuesday that the country is "determined to continue to implement" the Iran nuclear deal and to allow Iran to draw the "economic benefits" after the announcement of new U.S sanctions against countries exporting Iranian products.

In an official statement, the ministry of foreign affairs of France declared that "France is determined to continue to implement the JCPoA, endorsed unanimously by the United Nations Security Council in its resolution 2231 in 2015. With its European partners, France intends to continue its efforts to ensure that Iran derives economic benefits from the lifting of sanctions as long as it complies with all of its nuclear obligations."

"The work that has been put in place is making positive progress," said the French Foreign Ministry speaking about the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).

INSTEX was launched in January 2015 by France, Germany, and the U.K. to help European companies to bypass the U.S. bans and continue trading with Iran. The transactions channel was intended to be used for selling food, medicine, and medical devices to Iran, but efforts are underway by the trio to expand INSTEX to cover other areas of trade, including oil sales.

"Iran must also move forward" on the deployment of "its mirror mechanism (STFI)," said the spokesman of the Quai d'Orsay, Agnès von der Mühll.

"In-depth exchanges between French, English and German experts are underway, in association with Iranian experts, to ensure that the two structures operate in compliance with international financial standards," she added.

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