EU launches mechanism to defy US sanctions on Iran

The European Union has announced the setting of a mechanism to safeguard trade with Iran and defy sanctions imposed by the US after Washington pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The new proposed new institution INSTEX (Instrument In Support Of Trade Exchanges, EU and Iran) will be able to carry out trade without relying on direct financial transactions, reported Al Jazeera.

The US administration who has been closely watching European efforts to create a financial mechanism has warned that any attempt to disassemble its "maximum pressure" on Iran will face penalties.

The project which marks EU's first concrete step against Donald Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal is a project of the governments of France, Germany and Britain and will receive formal endorsement of all 28 EU members.

In May 2018, United States President Donald Trump announced that Washington would be withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In addition, Trump said the US would reinstate sanctions on Iran that were previously lifted under the JCPOA. Some of the restrictions were re-imposed on August 6 and the main ones were carried out on November 5 2018.

Washington imposed the sanctions on Tehran's shipping, financial and energy sectors and also targeted the crude oil exports of the country.