Tehran,Iran, 8 Feb.
Trend:
Australia plans to boost economic ties with Iran and hold meetings with economic experts, while it waits for the fate of EU's Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).
On 1 February 2019, Germany, France, and the UK officially established the Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to allow them to bypass US sanctions on trade with Iran. The mechanism will initially deal with food and medicine. By setting up the channel, the bloc is trying to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
"The position of Australia is to support the nuclear deal with Iran since it was approved by the UN Security Council, although there are obstacles, but despite all the problems, the government of Australia seeks to find resolutions to preserve and expand trade with Iran and has been successful to some extent," said Australian ambassador to Iran Ian Biggs, Trend reports via ILNA.
Referring to change in Iran – Australia trade approach after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Biggs said that like others, Australia was very pleased with the sanctions against Iran being lifted after signing the deal.
"We also witnessed the expansion of trade ties. Our approach has always been to support cooperation with Iran and increase interaction with this country internationally," he said.
Speaking about INSTEX, Biggs said there aren't a lot of details on this mechanism yet.
"Unfortunately, there are obstacles related to banking ties, payments and trade, so we're waiting to see if the special financial mechanism would work," the ambassador noted.
"There are various resources and capacity in Iran, it has rich oil resources and mines, we hope to witness progress and cooperation between two countries," he said.
"We are looking forward to positive changes for cooperation with Iran," said Biggs.