MNA – Chairman of Parliament’s national security commission voiced doubt over the implementation of an EU-designed payment channel (INSTEX) for Iran to bypass the US sanctions.

Speaking to Mehr correspondent on Tuesday, Chairman of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, said the Europeans have so far proved that they are not independent actors, and are merely waiting for a new situation to form between Iran and the US.

“European countries are in fact planning to remain as [passive] actors until then, without doing anything to influence the developments,” he added.

“Those who think that it is Europe which should save the nuclear deal are clearly mistaken, because Europeans are only dangling from the JCPOA, not preserving it. They don’t have the power to preserve the agreement,” the senior MP stressed.

He also cast doubt over the implementation of INSTEX by the European side.

The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), EU's special payment channel with Iran, was announced by the EU in January to secure trade with Iran and skirt US anti-Iran sanctions after Washington pulled out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal in May 2018.

Iran in turn has set up a matching channel called Special Trade and Finance Instrument (STFI). The Islamic Republic had given about a year to Europeans to implement the mechanism, and now expects them to implement the arrangement.