China's Deputy Foreign Ministry Ma Zhaoxu on Sunday advised the EU states to speed up inauguration of the INSTEX and also urged the US to call off sanctions on Iran in return for implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Speaking in a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Beijing, Ma Zhaoxu said that Tehran and Beijing will do their best to save the Joni Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and that the crisis arising from the US pullout from the nuclear deal and its subsequent maximum pressure policy.
Calling Iran and China strategic partners, he said that Beijing always pursues Iran-China ties from a long-term perspective and is keen on expansion of economic cooperation.
On Saturday Araghchi, who is on a visit to China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart to discuss Iran nuclear deal, told IRNA that the fact is that the Europeans are still serious about INSTEX and regard it as a trade mechanism to keep financial ties with Iran, despite the US sanctions, is per se of value.
Saying that the INSTEX is in the final steps of operation, Araghchi said that the INSTEX, even during sanctions, can cover 20 percent of the economic relations of Iran.
He added that of course the economic ties between Iran and China don’t need the INSTEX, the two countries have already designed their own mechanism. However, the Europeans said that after the INSTEX got underway and worked out, they will introduce the barter system to non-European countries as well.