Zarif: US Isolated Under Yoke of B-Team

In an address to a gathering of Iranian governors held in Tehran on Thursday, Zarif said the US government has been plunged into a self-inflicted isolation in the world’s political arena.

Denouncing the US policy of maximum pressure on Iran as a plot to create division between the Iranian people and government, Zarif added, “The US feels that it has been politically defeated.”

He also noted that the US could “live wisely” by liberating itself from the yoke of B-Team.

The foreign minister then pointed to the debacle of a US-initiated meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors for discussion on the latest developments in Iran’s nuclear program, saying the conveners could not achieve anything against Iran in the Wednesday’s session.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was solid, and the future will prove that it was solid, Zarif noted.

He also touched on a financial mechanism that the three EU parties to the JCPOA have devised to maintain trade with Iran, saying although the INSTEX may have been worthless for Iran, it indicated a decision by the US allies to create a mechanism for bypassing Washington.

Britain, France, and Germany announced the establishment of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) in January. The channel is meant to circumvent the US sanctions against Iran after Washington withdrew from the JCPOA.

On Thursday, Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Maria Schmid said beyond the 10-strong European states, “more, also non-EU member states, will join” the trade instrument.