TEHRAN – A former Foreign Ministry spokesman has criticized European countries’ inaction to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal, saying continuing the current situation with Europe is “impossible” and “unreasonable”.

Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Europe only seeks to protect its own interests with regard to the nuclear accord, also known as the JCPOA, Mehr reported on Sunday.

“Europeans want to gain the most and pay the least price,” Hosseini said.

He also cited U.S. unilateralism and bullying as another reason behind Europe’s failure to safeguard Iran’s interests under the JCPOA.

Hosseini stressed that by fulfilling its commitments under the JCPOA, Europeans can deepen their ties with Iran more than ever.  

Europeans regard the JCPOA as one of their diplomatic achievements, yet in practice, they do not take any positive step about it, he added.

He also pointed to INSTEX, a banking mechanism devised by European countries to do business with Iran, saying even if the mechanism becomes operational, it would be restricted to foodstuff, medicine and medical equipment and would not be useful for oil exports and banking transactions.

On January 31, France, Germany and Britain, the three European parties to the JCPOA, announced the creation of INSTEX.

INSTEX was announced nearly nine month after the Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA and reimposed sanctions on Iran. 

The U.S. exited the deal on May 8, 2018.

On March 20, Iran’s central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati announced that a mechanism similar to INSTEX has been registered in Iran, officially called the Special Trade and Finance Institute (STFI).

MH/PA