The special financial mechanism "Instex", created by France, Britain and Germany for Iran to skirt U.S. sanctions is making positive progress, said the French foreign ministry on Tuesday, as it responded to the latest moves by the U.S. government to put pressure on Iran, Reuters reported.

“The work that has been put in place is making positive progress, with a view to an eventual conclusion. Iran must also, for its part, make progress on its equivalent counterparty,” said the French foreign ministry in an electronic briefing.

The US administration has officially announced that it will not extend the exemption from the sanctions on the import of Iranian oil.

The current set of waivers -- issued to China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey -- expire May 2.