Swiss channel to ease humanitarian exports to Iran: Report

A Swiss channel for the export of food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods to Iran is to open “within months”, officials have told Reuters, amid Europe’s failure to launch its long-awaited Iran channel known as INSTEX.

According to Press TV, Senior Swiss and American officials have told Reuters that Bern is “working hard” to make its special humanitarian channel operational within the coming months.

“Our role is really to be able to provide food and health goods to the Iranian people. And therefore we are working hard on establishing that humanitarian channel,” said Pascale Baeriswyl, the Swiss State Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

Asked if the channel could be operational in the first half of 2020, she said, “I hope so, but it is very difficult to predict since it is not entirely in our hands.”

US Ambassador Edward McMullen to Switzerland -- whose country’s sanctions on Iran have deterred foreign banks from doing any business, including humanitarian deals, with the Islamic Republic – claims he is “hopeful” the Swiss channel would be operational soon.

“Fortunately, I think we are at that point now where we are working with Switzerland on the final details. And hopefully we’ll be seeing some kind of finality to that conversation in the near future,” he said.

The proposed Swiss channel may even outpace the long-awaited Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a long overdue mechanism the E3 (France, Britain, and Germany) are intending to launch to facilitate trade with Tehran despite the US sanctions.

“If this (Swiss) model works it would be great if others could follow... It’s not a competing instrument, just a slightly different approach,” said the Swiss state secretary for foreign affairs.

Late last month, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden said they would become new shareholders in INSTEX.

However, the mechanism is still in the last stages of taking effect, according to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

The launching of INSTEX is a small part of Europe’s commitment to compensate for the US withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, which was supposed to end anti-Iran sanctions in return for certain limitations on the country’s nuclear program.

This May, Iran began a set of countermeasures in reaction to the US’ withdrawal, prompting the deal’s European side to protect Iran’s business interests.

ME