
INSTEX: Europe's Tough Maneuvering Under the Influence of US Secondary Sanctions
by Laetitia Chapdelaine
This analysis report aims to provide a nuanced analysis of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the consequences generated by its erosion, and those brought about by the reimposition of crippling US sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. It makes the claim that the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), designed to allow Europeans to bypass US sanctions and continue trade with Tehran, is not sufficient to guarantee the economic benefits anticipated by the nuclear deal reached in Vienna on the 14th of July 2015. While INSTEX cannot directly counteract the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign -nor can it fully deliver on the JCPOA’s economic promises, it can, however, help the Iranian population by reducing the inflationary impact of increases in the price of imported goods. This paper aims to expand on the prospects of this mechanism as well as the areas it fails to cover.

Advocating for a coherent
European foreign policy in
the MENA region