Zarif: Instead of ‘paper promises’, Europe must fulfill its human duty toward Iranians

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has taken European countries to task for not fulfilling their promises to counteract the impact of US sanctions against Iran following Washington’s withdrawal from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, asking Europeans to at least carry out their ‘minimal human duty’ toward Iranians.

Last year, President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Tehran.

Washington claims the sanctions target the government, but ordinary Iranians are the ones who suffer the most.

In a joint statement on Friday, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden said they would become new shareholders in a non-dollar trade mechanism with Iran, known as INSTEX.

“In light of the continuous European support for the agreement and the ongoing efforts to implement the economic part of it and to facilitate legitimate trade between Europe and Iran, we are now in the process of becoming shareholders of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) subject to completion of national procedures,” their statement said.

Britain, France, and Germany (which are known as E3/EU) had announced the establishment of the system in January. The apparatus is meant to circumvent the sanctions that the United States began re-imposing against Iran last year after leaving a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic and the trio, Russia, and China.