xactly one year ago the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the \nUK created the so-called Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges \n(INSTEX) to facilitate legitimate trade with Iran without violating the \nUS economic sanctions. Since then absolutely nothing has happened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe purpose of the measure was to help salvage a nuclear deal Iran had \nsigned with six world powers in 2015 after the United States withdrew in\n May 2018 and imposed a range of sanctions that are hurting Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAs INSTEX remains on paper, no goods have been exchanged through the \nmechanism \u2014 a situation Michael Tockuss of the German-Iranian Chamber of\n Commerce finds deeply disappointing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tHe told DW that “we are not even at the stage where we can pass on a \nphone number when a company calls us asking to be put in touch with \nINSTEX.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tHe says that currently the mechanism is irrelevant to EU-Iranian trade \u2014\n for the past six months, INSTEX has been little more than “a political \nproject aimed at fostering Iran’s hopes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAccording to the German Statistical Office, Germany and Iran traded \ngoods worth \u20ac1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2019 \u2014 just half of what the \ntwo countries traded in the years before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tIranian Ambassador to Germany Mahmoud Farazandeh recently vented his \nfrustration at the situation, saying that “one should properly know \none’s abilities before making such commitments.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAlluding to Germany’s diplomatic promises, he said that “when you issue\n a check, you should first make sure you have money in your bank account\n so you can honor your commitment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAccording to an unnamed INSTEX source, there are plans to strike a deal\n soon. “We need to reach an agreement to lay the groundwork for the \nfuture,” the source told DW, adding that mutual distrust had slowed down\n negotiations considerably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe INSTEX source also told DW that the preparations have taken so long\n because “Iran has had to agree all kinds of aspects connected to the \ntransaction mechanism with three European states, and that unfortunately\n takes a lot of time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tYet Sascha Lohmann of the German Institute for International and \nSecurity Affairs (SWP) believes this delay has a different reason. He \nargues that “one can conclude from this that [the trade mechanism] does \nnot have sufficient backing from high-ranking political figures.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThis could well be the result of US displeasure at INSTEX, even though \nthe mechanism is only designed for the exchange of humanitarian goods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThat INSTEX has not lived up to expectations is an open secret. At the \nGerman government’s press conference on January 15, Foreign Ministry \nspokesman Rainer Breul admitted that “we are unable to provide the \neconomic opportunities that Iran expected from this arrangement and \nwhich have now vanished due to the US withdrawal. We cannot fully \ncompensate for this.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAlthough there had been plans to facilitate the trade of oil and gas \nvia the INSTEX mechanism, this is now not the case. This poses a problem\n for Iran, which is rich in both and depends on their export. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAccording to SWP analyst Lohmann, the mechanism is not designed to \nfacilitate enough trade to persuade Iran to honor the terms of the \nnuclear deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tEllie Geranmayeh, an expert on Iran with the European Council on \nForeign Relations, argues that it became clear by last summer that \nINSTEX was more of a political and symbolic gesture rather than a \ngenuine economic initiative. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
xactly one year ago the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK created the so-called Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) to facilitate legitimate trade with Iran without violating the US economic sanctions. Since then absolutely nothing has happened. The purpose of the measure was to help salvage a nuclear deal Iran had signed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,8,7],"tags":[1019,639,605],"yoast_head":"\n