Publish Date: 5 February 2020 - 19:21

TEHRAN, Feb. 05 (MNA) – Iranian President’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi described the recent trip of EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell to Iran ‘very good’ and said, “The meaning of Mr. Borrell’s statement is that EU does not want to implement the trigger mechanism and from EU’s point of view, there is no better deal than JCPOA.” 

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday regarding the trip of EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell to Iran and said, “He had a trip to Tehran on Monday and held meetings with FM Zarif, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani.” 

Vaezi called Borrell’s visit very good and noted, “The first point Mr. Borrell addressed was that he admitted that the EU failed to fulfill and implement their commitments after US withdrawal from the JCPOA.”  

“The second point he raised was that the EU seeks to have good ties with Iran in all the fields. He said that for his part, he strives to save the JCPOA, and currently we have no better deal than the 2015 nuclear agreement”, Iranian President’s Chief of Staff noted. 

In the meeting with Borrell in Tehran on Monday, President Hassan Rouhani criticized the EU for failing to honor its commitments after the US quit the deal and reinstituted sanctions on Iran.

However, Rouhani said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is still ready to cooperate with the European Union for resolving issues, and at any time that the other side (EU) fully observes its commitments Iran will also return to its commitments.”

In May 2019 Iran started to reduce its commitments to the JCPOA at bi-monthly intervals in response to the abrogation of the pact by the U.S. coupled with the European Union’s inaction to shield Iran’s economy from sanctions.

FA/IRN 83661801