Iran Press/Iran news: Deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, referring to the European Union’s political support for the Iran nuclear deal, has described it as “praiseworthy” and “valuable”, but not sufficient on its own.
During his meetings with a number of Finnish officials in Helsinki, Araqchi argued that European countries must take operational steps to safeguard the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), according to an Iran Press report.
In further remarks Araqchi said: "Iran has lived with sanctions for years, and has achieved a great deal under sanctions. The language of respect must replace the language of sanctions and threats."
During his meetings with the Finnish Foreign Ministry’s Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen, Under-Secretary of State Anne Sipiläinen, and Pertti Salolainen, the vice chairperson of the Finnish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Araqchi said US is undermining not only the JCPOA but also the independence and sovereignty of other countries.
Abbas Araqchi meets with a number of Finnish officials in Helsinki on Tuesday December 18
Araqchi also welcomed the Finnish government’s political resolve to expand its cooperation with Tehran, and expressed the hope that further efforts will be made to develop mechanisms and proper solutions in order to facilitate the presence of Finnish companies, especially the small- and medium-sized firms, in Iran.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief has once again highlighted the importance of the nuclear deal with Iran.
Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has reiterated the call for preserving the Iran nuclear deal also known as the JCPOA in the face of US unilateral withdrawal from the agreement back in May and the re-imposition of sanctions against Iran.
Federica Mogherini calls for preserving the Iran nuclear deal
With no nuclear deal any negotiations with Iran would be much more difficult, not easier, Mogherini said on Tuesday in a meeting of EU Non-Proliferation Consortium.
Thanks to the nuclear deal we now have new channels to engage, and engage even in a constructive manner - as some recent developments on Yemen have shown - with Iran to discuss regional issues and also security matters, the EU foreign policy chief further added.
She also stressed that Iran's missile defense program is a matter of concern for the European Union.
On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Following the US exit from JCPOA, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.
Araqchi said on 3 December 3 that other members of the 4+1 Group are now planning to compensate for America's withdrawal from the internationally-recognized Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) treaty.
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