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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/world/europe/europe-trade-iran-nuclear-deal.html
3 European Nations Create Firm to Trade with Iran, But Will Anyone Use It?
(New York Times) Steven Erlanger - After President Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed banking sanctions last year, European leaders vowed to find a way to enable Tehran to keep doing business with the rest of the world. Britain, France and Germany on Thursday introduced a financial mechanism to do that. The question now is whether anyone will actually use it. The new company, called Instex, would essentially allow goods to be bartered between Iranian companies and foreign ones without direct financial transactions or using the dollar. It is unclear exactly when the company will become operational or whether other countries will join. On Thursday, the State Department said it did not expect Instex to have any impact on Washington's "pressure campaign" against Iran. "Entities that continue to engage in sanctionable activity involving Iran risk severe consequences that could include losing access to the U.S. financial system and the ability to do business with the United States or U.S. companies." Belgium's foreign minister, Didier Reynders, said Thursday, "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."