Speaking to Euronews' Global Conversation, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister talked about Iran-Russia cooperation package and said: “Iran-Russia cooperation package includes a lot of activities- Russian investments in Iran energy sector, Russian participation in Iran infrastructural activities, Iranian - Russian engagement in oil and trade. This is a big package of cooperation that we plan to work on along with Russia, but I do not believe that a part of it would concern selling/giving oil to Russia to receive goods and commodities in return. It is a much bigger package that includes a lot of other variables, not only possibilities for energy cooperation between Iran and Russia, but also possibilities for Iran to receive cash.”
On whether the European Union had the will to follow its instinct and continue with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or it would blindly follow the United States, he stated: “We received a package not very much satisfactory. Now, we are working with the Europeans. Work is underway as we speak so that we test the possibility. We have given Europe some time, have seen a political commitment on the part of Europe, and have seen some technical measures put on the ground: however, these are not enough. There are two very specific timeframes. One is the timeframe of the first batch of the US sanctions that will be in place in August and the other timeframe is the second batch of the US sanctions, which will be in place in November. And we will see how Europe is dealing with this and will respond accordingly, regarding which, we have a very specific plan.”
Over the types of guarantees Iran needs to obtain from EU, he explained: “Under the pressure imposed by the US, under the psychological atmosphere that the US has tried to create, some European companies seem to have already started to withdraw. And that has to be confronted by the Europeans if they are interested indeed in preserving the deal. If that is the belief and the appreciation of our partners in Europe, then they have to be prepared to invest for it. Iran should not be the only side investing in this deal. We need to see banks opening accounts, SMEs coming to Iran, engaged with their partners in the private sector and so on and so forth.”
Explaining the ways the European Union can resolve this problem, he clarified: “In fact, if they believe they can continue to live along with a global system, a new global system, in which one country makes the final decision and everybody else will have to follow, and sometimes you feel it is not even one country, but an individual or group of individuals who are making decisions on their own personal interests or for their own personal interests, and then expect everybody else to follow. Now, following the meeting held between President Trump and President Putin in particular, there appear to be voices of concern in the US that President Trump is not necessarily pursuing American national interests. Even if he were perusing American national interests, are people of Europe prepared to accept US national interest dominating the decision-making process in the global economy? Are they prepared to accept this? Or are they prepared to stand against this? This is a question European companies and European governments need to ask themselves. And then, there are various possibilities for cooperation. Europe is not the only one to have American shareholders. There are many European companies having no contact with the US, nor do they have any dealings with it.”