Mohammad Javad Zarif met with a number of Iranian diplomats, their families and a group of Iranians residing in Germany, PHOTO by IRNA

Iran’s Foreign Minister said the Europeans are nowhere near as close to the United States as they are to save their remaining face.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, on his way back from New York to Tehran in a briefly stop in Frankfurt, met with a number of Iranian diplomats, their families and a group of Iranians residing in Germany, saying: "If the Europeans are getting a little closer to the US these days, it's not because they've seen Iran in a weak position, but because they have failed to withstand the US and attemt to save their remaining face."

Zarif said, "In Europe, when we talk to the president of a permanent member of the UN Security Council which has a nuclear bomb, he tells us that they can't do anything without Trump's permission."

He slammed the three European signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, that is, Germany, France and the UK, saying: "Europe has been trying to for five months to create an oil credit line for Iran to remain in the nuclear deal, but has failed to do so because it is not even allowed by its master to spend its own money on its own security."

Elsewhere in his speech, Zarif said: "The Americans feel that they have been defeated on the political scene and at the regional level, otherwise they would not have withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal and would not isolate themselves."

"Since two years ago, the US government has pursued 'Maximum Pressure Campaign' with the utmost anger and hatred against the noble Iranian people. The allegations, restrictions and pressures on Iranians, among them the servants of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been unprecedented for the past five years," Zarif added.

The top Iranian diplomat reiterated, "The diplomats of the Islamic Republic of Iran are the only diplomats who do not abide by any foreign power to express their views, and the truth is that we can decide on the most difficult issues without worrying about possible fuss."

Zarif described the approach as a product of the Iranian people's resistance and presence on the country's political scene.

The Iranian foreign minister noted that the US has resorted to “political begging, wrath and terror” because of the Iranian nation’s resistance.

213/