INSTEX Shows Europe Distancing Itself from US: Iran

The remarks were made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in an address to a ceremony held in Tehran on Monday to mark the National Day of Industry and Mine.

“Despite the fact that the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) is not sufficient for Europe to meet its commitments towards Iran, but it means the closest allies of the US are moving away from the country,” Zarif noted.

“Americans have reached the conclusion that the JCPOA set Iran free from the chains on its hands, and caused its regional power and influence to grow,” he said.

The Iranian foreign minister went on to say that the US has been isolated in the international arena today, and is resorting to any means in order to whip up support.

“Iran’s international power and influence is at its peak, and that has forced Americans to use the last resort left for them, namely the economic weapon.”

“In the economic field, the Americans tried to use the medium-term opportunity of the its dollar’s domination over the world’s financial sector in order to impose pressures on us, but in fact they created problems for themselves in the long-term,” he said.

“But they were defeated in this field as well, as China and Russia decided to stop using the US dollar in their transactions,” he noted.

“Last year, Iran and Turkey used their national currencies in 35 percent of their transactions. Even the UAE and India – who are friends of the US – decided to limit their use of US Dollar,” Zarif noted.

“This means the strategic use of the power of dollar will decrease in the long-term.”

Last week, senior authorities from Russia and China signed an agreement to ditch US dollar and other major international currencies in mutual trade and instead use their own national currencies.

The agreement had been signed earlier in June between Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Chinese People’s Bank Governor Yi Gang.

The agreement is a first practical step for the two countries to switch to national currencies in mutual payments.

Countries like Iran and Venezuela, who have suffered like Russia as a result of US sanctions over the past years, have also called the use of national currencies in global trade.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday that there was a need for the international community to “confront this wrongful habit of the US to use the power of dollar as a weapon against independent countries”.

Zarif also suggested earlier this month that America’s hegemony would collapse if countries around the world were to ditch the US dollar as the basis for their international trade.

“America’s power rests on the dollar; a great part of America’s economic power will go away if countries eliminate the dollar from their economic systems,” said Zarif.