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with the United States or US companies."
It added that the US did not expect that Instex would "in any way impact our maximum economic pressure campaign" against Iran.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders reacted to the formation of Instex by saying that while Europe did share some US concerns about Iran "at the end of the day it will be companies that decide whether or not they want to work in Iran, bearing in mind the risk of American sanctions".
Analysts have said that the US could define Instex as a legitimate target for its sanctions on the basis that any European entity with US connections, or which uses US dollars, that trades with Iran could expose itself to big fines.
Instex was expected to receive the endorsement of the entire EU at a meeting of European foreign ministers in Bucharest late on January 31.
In 2017, Europe’s drug exports to Iran were worth $884m, according to UN data. Those from China and India were valued at $194m and $52m, respectively.
The Guardian r eported that if Europe placed a high-level diplomatic representation on the Instex supervisory board that may act as a firewall preventing the Trump administration from imposing sanctions.
2.2 Iran’s Khamenei hits out at “criminal” US and “untrustworthy” EU states
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 13 hit out at the “criminal” US and some “untrustworthy” European states in his latest comments on the big challenge the Islamic Republic faces in overcoming Washington’s attempt to strangle its economy with sanctions.
“With regard to America, no problem can be resolved and negotiations with it have nothing but economic and spiritual loss,” Khamenei wrote on his official website.
He added: “Today, the Iranian people see some European countries as cunning and untrustworthy along with the criminal America. The government of the Islamic Republic must carefully preserve its boundaries with them.
“Iran must not retreat a single step from national and revolutionary values.”
Iran has slipped back into recession as a result of the sanctions, introduced in two phases between August and early November last year. The Iranian rial (IRR) has lost around 60% of its value against the dollar since the start of last year. The official annual inflation rate in Iran has grown to nearly 40%, around 30pp up since a year ago. Europe opposes the US sanctions and has said it will give Iran assistance enabling the continuation of some trade. But its efforts to date have been meagre in the eyes of Tehran.
In his remarks, Khamenei made an apparent jab at pragmatist, centrist President Hassan Rouhani by noting that “weakness in management” was one of the biggest domestic challenges faced by the country.
7 IRAN Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com