Iran's Supreme Leader Says EU Mechanism For Trade With Tehran Looks Like 'Bitter Joke'

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that the European Union had essentially withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal, and the trade mechanism it created to allow companies to bypass US sanctions and continue trading with Iranian entities looked like "a bitter joke,"

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2019) Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that the European Union had essentially withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal, and the trade mechanism it created to allow companies to bypass US sanctions and continue trading with Iranian entities looked like "a bitter joke,".

"They [Europeans] are telling us that they we should not withdraw from the nuclear deal. However, in practice, they have withdrawn themselves from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA]. This financial mechanism that was recently announced looks like a joke, a bitter joke," Khamenei said in a televised statement.

The US sanctions against Tehran were reinstated last year after the United States withdrew from the JCPOA, which provided for the relief of economic sanctions against Tehran in return for Iran's pledge to keep its nuclear program peaceful.

China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union, which are the other signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, have slammed Washington's unilateral withdrawal and reinstatement of sanctions that threaten not only Iran itself but also countries and companies that continue to do business with Iranian businesses.

In this context, the remaining JCPOA signatories agreed that a special mechanism, dubbed the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, would be established to facilitate trade between companies and Iran amid the US sanctions.