Iran blackmails Western countries, circumvents the nuclear deal with Instex

Eslam Mohamed

Day after day, Iran is getting tougher on Western offers to return to the nuclear deal, as Tehran aims to blackmail the French mediation by reneging on its obligations under the deal to eventually reach more generous offers.

The head of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, Mojtaba Zonnour, was quoted by Fars news agency as saying that the Europeans are seeking to credit Tehran with $15 billion in three installments through the financial mechanism Instex, which was agreed upon in January.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in February that the European mechanism for trade with Iran was not enough. “Germany, France and Britain should do more to show their commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran,” he said.

Iran is trying to get better Western offers, especially with regard to the direct sale and payment of oil, as the Instex mechanism is limited to humanitarian and food aspects, does not cover many areas, and imposes restrictions on the spending of money inside Tehran.

Washington imposed sanctions on Iran after its rejection of the European offer, and in return Tehran stepped up its rhetoric toward the United States after the two sides almost sat together to negotiate.

For his part, journalist Osama al-Hitimi, an expert on Iran, said, “Let us emphasize at the outset that an emergency dialogue will bring together Iran and the Western parties, led by the United States, after it became clear that the US strategy rejects the outbreak of war against Tehran, since its role is still very important for the interests.” The Iranian plan is focused on extracting the maximum gains it can get before entering the game of negotiations in order to look victorious in the end, which is of great importance to Tehran’s proxies and arms in the region, especially at the level of influence.

Hitimi added that each party is working to play all its cards as tools of pressure to strengthen its position before negotiations. In exchange for the escalating US sanctions day after day, Iran is using all its tools of harm in the region. The most recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities could temporarily disrupt half of Saudi oil production, which will disrupt the region and the entire world, especially since the Saudi Arabia was the first country relied upon by the international community to compensate for Iranian oil, which was prevented from being exported in large quantities by the US sanctions. This attack has scared the whole world into panic, and at the same time it confirms that Iran is already capable of delivering on its promises.

Iran is betting on the West and the United States eventually succumbing to extortion, Hitimi said. This was confirmed by Europe’s desire to maintain the nuclear agreement and work tirelessly to satisfy the Iranian side, which was reflected in Tehran’s recent position on the French and European offer to grant Iran $15 billion in credit in two installments. Although Iran initially expressed its acceptance of this offer, it then retreated after the announcement. This shows that Iran wants to gain more and views the European offer as unsatisfactory, and also that it seeks to appear strong before the Europeans.