Ms. Federica Mogherini who is visiting Tehran attended a press conference on Saturday after a meeting with Zairf. She ensured that she and Mr. Zarif no longer would read several statements after JCPOA and Iran and the EU would focus on other issues of mutual interest; “today, we, 7 EU commissioners are in Tehran to address on issues with greater weight in bilateral cooperation; my message to the Islamic Republic of Iran is that diplomacy would triumph and it was worth a try and I hope that Iranian public would concretely see the impact of this diplomatic effort on their daily life,” she told the press.
“I am not a spokesperson only of the EU; rather, I speak on behalf of 500 million Europeans; the affairs with JCPOA have not yet finished and as a coordinator of the JCPOA implementation in the Joint Commission, I hope we will ensure interests of all parties to the deal,” Mogherini added. “Iran had been acting according to its commitments in the JCPOA; so had the EU. We have now advanced much passing by financial and economic sanctions and have engaged in an active dialogue with Iran.”
Mogherini pointed to difficulties in some junctions inherent in Iran-EU relations; “we seed both sides engagement in realizing constructive relations and address and solve problems; so far, this engagement has yielded good results; currently, the EU has cooperation with Iran in economic field, notably our support for Iran’s future membership bid in WTO,” she told the press.
On university exchanges, the EU foreign policy chief said that EU welcomed professor and student exchanges; “on emigrant issues, Iran could provide huge help with solving migrant crisis. On environment, talks have focused upon water shortages and waste management; on airline industries, the EU could provide Iran with technical help,” she asserted.
Mogherini then turned to highly controversial issue of Syrian crisis; “the EU’s priority is cessation of hostilities in Syria, an issue where Iran could also be of great help; Iran and the EU would be influential in Geneva round of Syrian talks to stop the violence in Syria; in Yemen, we support efforts to bring stability and end of war, and we hope Kuwait session would help with the process,” she detailed.
“I have welcomed talks with Iran, since the New Year in Iran is a symbol of change and thus provided me a reason to visit Iran as a historic event, which would improve both sides’ chances to deepen ties,” Ms. Mogherini said.
On a question about the EU measures to lift crippling banking restrictions which still bit Iranian economy and especially banking transactions, she said that business and trade with Iran had been improved since the JCPOA implementation; “on improving trade with Iran, the EU would have jurisdiction on its own economic sector players to work with Iran which needs a strong banking relationship; on question on missile tests, I would say that it would not be regarded as violation of the JCPOA provisions; I can ensure all that JCPOA definitely prepare the grounds for extensive security cooperation across the Middle East; on the question of sanctions on Iran’s banking sector, I would say that the EU has lifted all sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program on banking and economic sectors; however, human rights related sanctions are still effective and on place,” she concluded the conference.
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