Diplomats are examining a scheme to barter Iranian oil for European goods through Russia as part of mechanism to bypass American sanctions on the Islamic Republic, The Independent can reveal.
The proposal is one idea under consideration by diplomats: Iran would sell its oil to Russia, which would then refine it and sell it to Europe. Companies in Europe could then transfer goods and services to Iran while circumventing any US restrictions on trade with Iran.
For now, the banking mechanism – announced by Europe, China, and Russia along the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week – remains a work in progress, a symbolic show of support for Iran and a slap at the Trump administration during a week it intended to showcase its anti-Iran agenda.
But experts say it could evolve in the medium term, becoming an alternative mechanism for trade with Iran despite US restrictions set to tighten in November, and thereby salvage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal forged by Iran and world powers in 2015. The discussions about the mechanism are sign of shifting diplomatic winds.
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday became the latest venue for the showdown between Iran’s backers and the Trump administration. Washington is attempting to pressure Tehran into buckling to its demands to curtail its missile program, mothball its entire nuclear infrastructure, and rein in militias it has trained, armed, or deployed throughout the region.
“I ask all members of the Security Council to work with the US to ensure the Iranian regime changes its behaviour and never acquires a nuclear bomb,” said Mr Trump, warning of “severe consequences” for any nation that sought to circumvent draconian US financial sanctions to be imposed on Iran starting on 4 November.
Mr Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in May, saying he wanted a better deal that includes Iran’s other activities, but he has also shown contempt for the ways of the UN and the norms of international diplomacy.
“The whole point of the JCPOA was that it wasn’t a bilateral deal,” said Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, a UN adviser and specialist on Iran. “It was rooted in a Security Council resolution. The process of sanctions and the removal of sanctions was rooted in the Security Council.”
Source » independent