The European Union has agreed to contribute $15 billion to the fund of INSTEX trade mechanism that was set up by the European Union to continue trade with Iran bypassing US sanctions and in an effort to save the nuclear deal with Tehran, senior Iranian lawmaker Mucteba Zunnur said on Sunday.
"The Europeans have agreed to contribute $15 billion to the INSTEX fund in three tranches," Zunnur said as quoted by Tasnim news agency.
The US unilaterally withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal last year and reinstated economic sanctions on Iran. In May 2019, Tehran said it would partially suspend its commitments under the 2015 deal and gave Europe sixty days to guarantee that Iran's interests are protected under the agreement.
INSTEX was set up by France, Germany and the United Kingdom in January to ease non-dollar trade with Tehran in the wake of the US sanctions. Following a meeting of the Joint Commission of the Iranian nuclear deal in June, the mechanism became operational and available to all EU member states.