Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron described launching the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchange (INSTEX) as a positive, but insufficient step.
The INSTEX should not be limited to medical supplies and foodstuff, rather it must be used for meeting all the country's needs," President Rouhani said during the telephone conversation with his French counterpart.
Wishing the French government and nation as well as the world success in fighting coronavirus, Rouhani said that all the countries should note that they will not be able to put behind the critical conditions without using each other's experiences.
"Fighting the virus under sanctions for Iran is harder than other countries," he added.
The Iranian president pointed to the US' violation of the international law, and said, "The US government has not only violated international law by imposing sanctions on Iran but also breached 2005 World Health Organization's hygienic regulations."
He also welcomed UN secretary general's initiative to declare ceasefire among the conflicting countries due to coronavirus outbreak across the world, hoping that the initiative would also include the economic war against Iran.
President Macron, for his part, briefed President Rouhani on coronavirus outbreak in France and other European states, saying that the world is experiencing a difficult situation.
He hoped that all the countries would be able to pass the hard situation in cooperation with each other.
Expressing Paris' interest to promote all-out ties with Iran, he said launching the INSTEX was a positive move, hoping that it will help increase transactions between Iran and Europe.
Macron hailed Iran's constructive role in regional ties, stressing the need for boosting bilateral, regional and international interactions in line with fostering regional peace and security.
INSTEX was launched in January 2019 as part of a broader effort by Germany, France and Britain--the so-called E3—to ease non-dollar transactions with Iran after the US abandoned the deal earlier.
However, the European companies have not yet been ready for using the instrument for fear of US sanctions.