Germany says medical aid has been sent to Iran via Instex trade mechanism

The German Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that France, Germany and Britain have sent medical equipment to Iran via the Instex trade mechanism set up to bypass the US sanctions imposed on Tehran.

The ministry added that the medical goods had arrived in Iran. Instex and its Iranian counterpart STFI will work on more transactions and the enhancement of the process. No further details were provided.

On 14 March, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed that his country had received medical goods and financial aid from countries such as Germany, Azerbaijan, China, the United Arab Emirates, France, Britain, Japan, Qatar, Russia and Turkey to help confront the coronavirus pandemic. He added that the government and people of Iran “will never forget their friends.”

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In January last year, Britain, Germany and France announced the development of the Instrument In Support of Trade Exchanges — Instex — to barter humanitarian goods and food for Iranian oil.

Iran has become the epicentre of the coronavirus in the Middle East. The number of infections has passed the 40,000 mark, and 2,757 people have died.

Coronavirus is affecting the world’s economy – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]