Germany, France and Britain have joined forces to establish their own trade channel to Iran and circumvent United States sanctions, according to a joint statement made by the so-called E3 on Thursday.
The three signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have been working for months to establish a measure allowing payments between Europe and Iran to continue, in the wake of the US withdrawal from the agreement in May.
Now the European countries have officially established that channel, in a move likely to displease Washington.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced the "special purpose vehicle," known as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), at a meeting of EU foreign and defense ministers in Bucharest, Romania.
The INSTEX channel will be used by Europe to sell only food, medicine and medical equipment to Iran, with the possibility of expanding in the future, German broadcaster NDR reported.
"We have been looking for ways to obtain this agreement because we are firmly convinced that it serves our strategic security interests in Europe," Maas said during a press briefing in Brussels earlier in the day.
Read moreEuropean countries establish payment channel with Iran to bypass US sanct
The three signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have been working for months to establish a measure allowing payments between Europe and Iran to continue, in the wake of the US withdrawal from the agreement in May.
Now the European countries have officially established that channel, in a move likely to displease Washington.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced the "special purpose vehicle," known as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), at a meeting of EU foreign and defense ministers in Bucharest, Romania.
The INSTEX channel will be used by Europe to sell only food, medicine and medical equipment to Iran, with the possibility of expanding in the future, German broadcaster NDR reported.
"We have been looking for ways to obtain this agreement because we are firmly convinced that it serves our strategic security interests in Europe," Maas said during a press briefing in Brussels earlier in the day.
Read moreEuropean countries establish payment channel with Iran to bypass US sanct
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