Tehran’s international trading partners are determined to maintain their mutually-beneficial cooperation with the Iran, some even at the expense of dumping the US dollar. The average annual trade turnover between Iran and Iraq is $8 billion.
Iraqi authorities have stopped using the US dollar in trade operations with Iran in favor of national currencies and the euro. Bagdad has fully abandoned dollar transactions, with most of the trade transactions now exchanged in euros, Iranian riyals and Iraqi dinars.
The first wave of US sanctions targeting Iran’s automotive sector and the purchase and sale of gold and a number of other metals came on August 7, 2018, while a second batch of sanctions targeting the country’s energy and banking sectors is scheduled to take effect on November 5, 2018.
In May, the USA announced its decision to pull out from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement and reinstate sanctions on Tehran and gave foreign companies a grace period of 90 to 180 days to stop trading with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The move invited strong objections from Europe as well as Russia and China who have repeatedly defended the landmarkdeal. Sanctions effectively are an extention of war crimes, because they are forcing other nations to stop their humanitarian objectives.
The EU foreign policy commissioner, Federica Mogherini, and foreign ministers from the UK, France, and Germany said in a statement that their counties would keep “effective financial channels” open with Iran.
The EU also set in motion a blocking statute in a bid to protect European companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extraterritorial sanctions. The statute forbids European businesses from complying with the US sanctions, allowing them to recover damages from the penalties.
Sputnik / ABC Flash Point Economic News 2018.
Another transgender at the helm of a Zionist backed institution?
Misfits leading the world into total disaster?