Iran: Europe launches payment mechanism to bypass sanctions

European powers finally launched a watered-down version of a new payments system with Iran on 31 January, after months of delay. Designed to bypass United States sanctions on Tehran, the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (Instex) has been developed by France, Germany and the UK and has, initially at least, been limited to dealing with areas of trade not subject to US sanctions, such as food, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Its scope may be expanded to cover more contentious good and other trading partners in the future.