Berlin (CNN) European countries have joined forces to establish their own payment channel to Iran and circumvent United States sanctions, according to German broadcaster NDR. Now the European countries have officially established that channel, named INSTEX -- an acronym for Instrument in Support Of Trade Exchanges -- NDR reported Thursday, in a move likely to displease Washington. "We have been looking for ways to obtain this agreement because we are firmly convinced that it serves our strategic security interests in Europe," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said during a press briefing in Brussels. "We do not want Iran to get out of this agreement and back into uranium enrichment. This has to do with our security interests in Europe," he said.

Source: CNN January 31, 2019 14:26 UTC