Tehran to set up its part of new payments mechanism ‘this month’ – deputy FM

Iran hopes to have its part of a new payments vehicle – devised to bypass US sanctions – ready within a fortnight, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday. “We hope it will be before the end of the Iranian calendar year,” Araghchi said in Vienna, referring to March 20 when the Iranian year ends. Araghchi was in the Austrian capital for a “joint commission” with representatives from China, Russia, Britain and France, AFP reports. The states are signatories of the international deal on Iran’s nuclear program. The new payments vehicle INSTEX is seen as key to EU efforts to preserve the deal struck in 2015 between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).