On the 10 January, the ELN hosted a global press and expert call with Iran programme lead, Sahil Shah, former British Ambassador to Iran, Sir Richard Dalton, IAI Director, Dr Nathalie Tocci, and CNAS research associate, Fabian Hinz.

Sahil Shah, a policy fellow and Iran Programme lead at the European Leadership Network, said high stakes made getting INSTEX working an even greater priority. “I think that now more than ever especially when the risk of conflict has gone up—which inherently increases the risk of humanitarian crises—that we definitely need to keep INSTEX at the forefront of our minds and help push policymakers at the highest level realize that this will not get off the ground and operationalize to the extent that the Iranians want or need unless there is more political capital put behind it,” Shah said during the press call.