Iran envoy slams EU inaction over sanctions

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses a crowd via a video conference in the capital Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2022. Negotiating does not mean giving in to the enemy, he said as talks are taking place in Vienna between his country and world powers on the nuclear issue.Photo: AFP

The Iranian ambassador to Spain on Saturday blasted Europe's inaction in the face of the US pullout from the 2015 nuclear deal, saying the European Union (EU), in practice, took no effective measure against Washington's "cruel" sanctions on Tehran after the unilateral withdrawal of the US.

Hassan Qashqavi made the remarks when addressing a gathering of university professors and students of Spain, according to semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

He voiced his regret that the incumbent US President Joe Biden failed to fulfill his pledge of Washington's immediate return to the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying this is why talks are currently being held in the Austrian capital of Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA signatories, namely Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany, to revive the deal.

Commenting on US sanctions against Iranians and their adverse impacts on Iran's relations with other countries, including Spain, he stressed that "the EU took no effective measure in practice in the face of Washington's cruel sanctions."

The ambassador added that Iran has again placed on its agenda negotiations with the remaining JCPOA parties aiming to fully lift the sanctions despite the Western side's failure to honor its promises.

The 2015 nuclear deal eased the previous US sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran's curbing its nuclear program, which the US-led Western countries have suspected as an attempt to create nuclear weapons.