Larijani made the remarks in a meeting with Wolfgang Gerstl, the head of Austria-Iran parliamentary friendship group, on Sunday in Tehran.
He criticized European leaders for their vocal support to Iran and a lack of any tangible measures to safeguard the country’s economic interests in the face of US sanctions, saying the trend has cast doubt on the credibility of the European Union, and the bloc seems unable to solve problems.
Larijani then noted the halt in cooperation between Iran and Austria due to US pressure, saying the US cannot keep pressuring Iran, and promised Tehran’s retribution.
For his part, the Austrian official called on EU and Iran’s continued commitment to the nuclear deal despite the US withdrawal from the agreement.
He said launching the EU’s trade mechanism for Iran (INSTEX) faced a lot of problems, and the delay in its implementation is not due to a lack of resolve for boosting economic and financial cooperation with Iran.
He added that the mechanism woke the EU to its heavy reliance on the US, particularly regarding financial transactions, and made the bloc realize that they need to make some internal reforms about the issue.
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