Ayatollah Khamenei received Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday evening. Mr. Tsipras is visiting Tehran and heads a delegation of his country to Iran.
Leader believed that Iran and Greece, as heirs to ‘resplendent civilizations of ancient Persia and Hellenic Greece,’ would celebrate this visit as a fresh start for improvements in bilateral trade and long-term cooperation; “the EU now is a ground for conflicting interests; this is because the EU as an independent polity, lacks the vigor in its policies vis-à-vis the US and the criticisms still hold true that Europeans systematically lack an independent line of policy,” the Leader said. “With Syria, terrorism is a highly contagious disease which if abandoned untreated, will contaminate all; however, a strong collective will could efficiently fight and destroy terrorist strongholds, while some countries in the region directly support terrorists.”
On bilateral international coordination of Iran and Greece policies, Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted Greek government’s laudable independent policy; “we hope Greece finds a way out of the crisis which would benefit both countries,” he added.
Tsipras for his part, lavished praise on the Iranian nation, describing Iranians as ‘great and glorious nation’ who had been playing critical role in history in defending their ideals and independence; he believed his visit to Iran indicated a common political will which seeks all-out relations; “this is a turning point in bilateral relations,” Mr. Tsipras told a meeting, where Ishaq Jahangiri, First Vice-President also attended.
On the conflicting interests in EU, Tsipras said that the sheer economic interdependence had made it impossible to change economic policy, for which the power arrangements in the EU should be drastically changed. “We are not witnessing positive changes about Syria; the crisis has now found grand human dimensions where hundreds of thousands of people had abandoned their home to find safe havens, including in Greece,” he concluded.
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