Six EU Nations Join INSTEX

Six European countries, namely Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden announced in a joint statement on Friday their intent to join the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), designed to facilitate trade with Iran.  
The countries said they put “utmost importance to the preservation and full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” (JCPOA), signed between Iran and six world powers in 2015.
“In light of the continuous European support for the agreement and the ongoing efforts to implement the economic part of it and to facilitate legitimate trade between Europe and Iran, we are now in the process of becoming shareholders of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) subject to completion of national procedures,” the statement published on the website of Finland’s Foreign Ministry said.  
INSTEX was established by France, Germany and the United Kingdom in January 2019 to save the landmark nuclear agreement after the United States unilaterally abandoned the deal and said it wanted a new agreement. 
The US has imposed ever since what its administration described the “toughest ever sanctions” against Iran’s finances, foreign trade and oil production.