[pjw] NEWS: Europe's trade system gets medical aid to Iran (AP 3/31)

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello again Iraq Affinity Group supporters
In my report back on Friday's rally, I forgot to mention one of the 
uplifting pieces of news we talked about. Though it happened at the end of 
March, you still may not have heard that European countries were able to 
sidestep US sanctions on Iran and get mediacal aid to them.

This is great news as the US has been continuing to add more sanctions and 
keeps refusing to allow Iran access to its own oil wealth located in 
financial institutions outside the country.

Let's hope for more positive developments in the future.
dan h.
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

  https://news.yahoo.com/europes-trade-system-iran-finally-091016110.html
Europe's trade system with Iran finally makes first deal
     Associated Press March 31, 2020
    Share

    BERLIN (AP) -- European countries trying to keep Iran's nuclear deal
    with world powers alive said Tuesday that a system they set up to
    enable trade with Tehran has finally concluded its first transaction,
    facilitating the export of medical goods.

    Britain, France and Germany conceived the complex barter-type system
    dubbed INSTEX, which aims to protect companies doing business with Iran
    from American sanctions, in January 2019. The move came months after
    President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the
    nuclear deal that Tehran struck with world powers in 2015 and reimposed
    sanctions.

    Since then, officials have struggled to get the system up and running.
    On Tuesday, however, Germany's foreign ministry said the three European
    countries "confirm that INSTEX has successfully concluded its first
    transaction, facilitating the export of medical goods from Europe to
    Iran."

    "These goods are now in Iran," it said in a statement that gave details
    neither of the goods nor of who was involved in the transaction. It
    didn't specify what the intended medical purpose was. Iran has been
    hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but supplying medical goods to
    Iran already was a concern before the outbreak.

    "Now the first transaction is complete, INSTEX and its Iranian
    counterpart STFI will work on more transactions and enhancing the
    mechanism," the German foreign ministry statement said.

    Tehran has gradually been violating the nuclear deal's restrictions to
    pressure the remaining parties to the agreement -- China, Russia,
    Germany, France and Britain -- to provide new incentives to offset the
    American sanctions, saying that INSTEX has been insufficient.

    The nuclear deal aims to prevent Iran from developing a bomb --
    something the country's leaders insist they do not want to do.