S&D Group welcomes the creation by Germany, France and the UK of INSTEX, a long-awaited payment mechanism to facilitate legitimate trade between the EU and the Islamic Republic of Iran. This special purpose vehicle is a key pillar of the EU efforts to safeguard the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) signed in 2015 after years of hard negotiations. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed multiple times that Iran is in compliance with the agreement, even as the Trump administration withdrew the US from it last year.