The Federal Foreign Office of Germany in a tweet confirmed the first transaction with Iran through the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) on Tuesday.
The Federal Foreign Office of Germany wrote in its Twitter page, “France, Germany and the United Kingdom confirm that INSTEX has successfully concluded its first transaction, facilitating the export of medical goods from Europe to Iran.”
The message added, “INSTEX and its Iranian counterpart STFI will work on more transactions and enhancing the mechanism.”
INSTEX is a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) launched in January 2019 by France, Germany, and the UK, with the goal to facilitate non-USD transactions with Iran. INSTEX is based in Paris.
However, European companies have not used this mechanism for fear of US sanctions on them.
The three European countries have already contributed €5 million to Iran in order to fight with spread of coronavirus. The help was made through the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Monday that Brussels would support Iran’s $5b loan request from the International Monetary Fund for assistance in fighting coronavirus.
“We are going to support this request because these countries are in a very difficult situation mainly due to the US sanctions that prevent them from having income by selling their oil,” Borrell said after talks with EU foreign ministers.
The bloc is preparing to send 20 million euros’ (USD 21.5 million) worth of humanitarian aid to Iran and Venezuela in the coming weeks, he said.
Tehran and Caracas are both under swingeing US sanctions aimed at starving their regimes of income, Borrell said, stressing that shipments of food, medicine and medical equipment should not be affected.
“This has to be reaffirmed because many believe that if they participate in this kind of humanitarian trade they can be sanctioned,” he said.
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