Adviser: Europeans Deprived of Iran’s Market under Sanctions
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The European countries have suffered heavy losses in the wake the unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran, a top adviser to the Supreme Leader announced, adding that the Europeans would ignore the anti-Iran sanctions if they had the choice.
“The sanctions have not had negative impacts on Iran alone, but have also brought about negative and irrecoverable impacts upon the European countries, which have been deprived of Iran’s market and capabilities,” Director of the Strategic Research Center of Iran’s Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati said on Wednesday.
He made the comments in a meeting in Tehran with Latvia’s Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, whose country will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union in 2015.
Velayati, who is also an adviser to Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, told the visiting Latvian diplomat that the European countries would opt to expand relations with Iran and ignore the sanctions if they could decide independently.
The bilateral meeting covered other issues as well, including discussions on the Syrian crisis, Ukraine developments, Afghanistan, the Middle East issues and Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Velayati pointed to the recent presidential elections in Afghanistan, describing the polls as “part of the positive developments” in Iran’s eastern neighbor.
The adviser also hailed what he called the “healthy and fully safe” Afghan presidential elections.
The visiting Latvian minister, for his part, emphasized the need for the enhancement of Tehran-Riga bilateral relations, and vowed to open the door for the improvement of ties with Iran once his country begins to hold the EU presidency.
“One of the reasons behind my trip to Iran is to evaluate and prepare the grounds for the development of bilateral relations within the form of the European Union, and I hope this developing path would continue,” Rinkevics stated.
Earlier in February, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a meeting with Latvia’s new ambassador to Tehran had called for the enhanced relations between Iran and the European Union.
In that meeting, Zarif had also voiced Tehran’s readiness for enhancing bilateral ties with Riga.
He also stressed Latvia’s important role in development of Iran-EU relations, especially given that the country will assume EU’s rotating presidency as of next year.
