The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union (EU) Monday decided to suspend certain restrictive measures against Iran for six months.
The EU has lifted the prohibition on the provision of insurance and transport in relation to Iranian crude oil sales to its current customers, Xinhua reported.
In addition, the prohibition on the import, purchase or transport of Iranian petrochemical products and related services has also been suspended.
According to the EU decision, to enable the transport of Iranian crude oil and petrochemical products, the prohibition on the provision of vessels is suspended.
The ban on trade in gold and precious metals with the Iranian government, its public bodies and the country’s central bank has also been suspended.
“As foreseen by the Joint Plan of Action, the thresholds for authorising financial transfers to and from Iran have been increased tenfold in order to ease legitimate trade with Iran,” said the EU decision.
The suspension will last for a period of six months during which relevant contracts will have to be executed.
The EU said Monday’s decision is a part of the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action agreed by Iran and the P5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany), which comes into force Jan 20.
An Iranian atomic official told reporters Monday that the country has suspended 20 percent uranium enrichment in Natanz and Fordow nuclear enrichment sites to implement its obligations pursuant to the November interim Geneva nuclear deal.
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