Larijani:

UK uncooperative with Iran over JCPOA

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani held talks with the UK foreign minister where he said “unlike certain other European countries, the UK did not take appropriate measures to promote economic cooperation with Iran after JCPOA.”

News ID: 67370

Date: 10 December 2017 - 10:18

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani held talks with UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and the delegation he headed where he expressed his gratitude towards the UK government and people for the condolences they offered on the recent disastrous earthquake in Iran and said “we are after promoting economic relations with the European Union. Iran, UK ties have a long history with lots of ups and downs along the way.”

“We disagree with military campaigns against other countries; since 2000 when the US and the UK armies invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq, the region was plunged into ever worsening chaos. These invasions were the major reason in the spread of terrorism. Instead of voicing anti-Iran sentiments, it would be more rewarding to pay attention to the reality of what is going on in regional countries,” Larijani added.

“All Bahraini people want is democracy. They want equal voting rights. Why do you aid their oppression? You claim to be the upholders of human rights, yet you support those who violate Bahraini people’s rights,” he asserted.

Underlining the fact that world powers provide the violators of Bahraini people with weaponry and facilities, Larijani added “we engaged in fight against terrorism in Iraq and Syria at the formal request of their governments. We believe that political negotiations and dialogue are the keys to the regional problems. Why is it that some countries opposed JCPOA while it was considered the right decision?”

“After JCPOA agreement was reached, unlike certain other European countries that did their best to engage in economic cooperation with Iran, the UK did not take appropriate measures to promote economic cooperation with Iran. You did not even solve the banking obstacles of Iranian embassy in London,” Larijani said.

Asserting that the US decision to move its embassy to al-Quds was one of the biggest mistakes the US government ever made, Larijani said “the future will tell just how big this mistake has been.”

For his part, the UK FM Boris Johnson offered his condolences to Iranians for the recent earthquake and, referring to JCPOA agreements, he added “we support JCPOA as an international agreement.”

“At present, the ties between Iran and the UK are not strong enough and we have engaged in much less business cooperation compared to France and Germany,” Johnson acknowledged.

Explaining his mission to increase political, economic and parliamentary cooperation with Iran and removing the obstacles for the expansion of ties, the UK FM said “we are after increasing political interaction and we are willing to receive more Iranian tourists in the UK.”

Boris Johnson acknowledged that certain inappropriate measures adopted by the UK have resulted in the dissolution of regional regimes and said “Iran, Saudi tensions are not beneficial to any countries and will only result in unstable conditions. The problems between the two countries need to be solved and we intend to help Iran’s attempts to establish stability in the region.”

Calling the activities of terrorist groups in the region regrettable, Johnson asserted “Iranian Parliament and the House of Lords of the UK have both been the targets of terrorist attacks. We are interested in cooperating with Iran over fighting terrorism and we will gain from your experience in this regard.”