The head of Tehran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Kamal Kharazi said that if Europeans don’t take steps within the 60-day deadline announced by Iran in May, Iran itself will take steps. Mr Kharazi said it would be a positive move for European countries to put resources into the planned European trade mechanism INSTEX to make trade possible.

US President Donald Trump withdrew the US in May 2018 from the landmark Iran nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015, and re-imposed sanctions against Tehran. The EU has taken measures to counter US sanctions against Iran, including the INSTEX mechanism, a special EU payment channel not using the dollar to facilitate trade transactions with Iran.