The European Union High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has agreed on Tuesday with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hosein Amirabdolahian, to maintain contacts to restore the nuclear agreement, in the midst of deteriorating relations between Brussels and Tehran.
In the framework of his visit to Jordan to participate in a series of conferences, Borrell and Amirabdolahian have held a new meeting with sanctions over the escalation of internal repression in Iran, following the protests over the death of young Masha Amini in police custody, and the supply of drones to Russia that it uses in its attacks against civilian targets in Ukraine, as a backdrop.
«I stressed the need to immediately stop military support to Russia and internal repression in Iran,» the head of European diplomacy has explained in a message on social networks. According to his version, the two have agreed to «keep the channels of communication open and restore the nuclear agreement on the basis of the negotiations held in Vienna.»
Borrell himself has recognized that the meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister was «necessary» and comes in the midst of the «deterioration» of relations between the EU and Iran, after months plagued by disagreements and in which the EU-27 have approved four rounds of sanctions to respond to the wave of repression in Iran and its support for Moscow in the war in Ukraine.
For his part, Amirabdolahian asked the European countries to avoid a «politicization» of the issue and to adopt «realistic and constructive» positions to solve the existing differences, while showing Tehran’s willingness to reach an agreement in line with the draft presented after months of contacts, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
The Iranian Foreign Minister stressed that the other signatories must adopt «political decisions» to unblock the situation. According to these reports, Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Baqeri, and the European Union’s chief nuclear negotiator, Enrique Mora, also took part in the meeting.
On the other hand, Amirabdolahian criticized the «support» of Western governments for the protests that have been going on in Iran since September following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman arrested in Tehran for allegedly wearing the veil incorrectly. He criticized the adoption of new sanctions under «the false pretext of supporting the human rights of the Iranian population».
The minister stressed that respect for human rights is «a fundamental pillar» of the Islamic Revolution of 1989 and reiterated that Western countries have «violated» these rights by supporting the sanctions applied by the United States after unilaterally abandoning the nuclear agreement in 2018. Thus, he has described as «crocodile tears» the statements in support of the rights of the population.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
