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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, while denying that the Iranian oil-for-goods market is part of a Tehran-Moscow cooperation program, expressed dissatisfaction with the proposals of European countries.
In an interview with Global Conversation of Euronews, Zarif clarified that the European party had to be resolved in his support for the JCPOA
Zarif demanded that "Iran not be the only party to this agreement which has invested "
M. Zarif said that he did not believe that the "oil for goods" agreement was part of a cooperation package with Russia. "It is a much larger package, and it includes many other variables, including opportunities for energy cooperation between Iran and Russia," he said.
Although Europe has made a political commitment to JCPOA, Zarif said: "We have seen a political commitment from Europe, we have seen technical measures put on the ground. "
Elaborating on what would be" enough "for Tehran, Zarif said," If the Europeans are actually interested in preserving the deal, then they must be willing to invest for it. " should not be the only part of this agreement that has invested.We must see the banks open accounts, we must see SMEs (small and medium enterprises) come to Iran, engage with their partners in the private sector , and so on. "
He added that" working with the Europeans "has not yet come to an end. "The work is going on as we speak so that we look at the possibility.We have given time to Europe.There are two very specific deadlines.One is the schedule of the first series US sanctions that will be in place in August, and the other period is the second round of US sanctions, which will be in effect in November, and we'll see how Europe reacts to that and we respond, accordingly , and we have a very specific plan. "
However, the Iranian authorities have hitherto preferred to keep the details of a European package secret and avoid any elaboration. On his "specific plan".
Echoing Zarif's discontent, Iran's oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, also said on July 21 that Tehran was not happy with the package proposed by Europe.
On July 5, it was reported that members of the European Parliament had proposed a motion that, if pbaded, would allow the European Investment Bank (EIB) to cooperate with Tehran despite US sanctions.
However, the EIB remains skeptical about such moves. The president of the EIB, Werner Hoyer, said that Iran is "where we can not play an active role".
The main concern of the EIB is that the organization retains access to the US market for the financing of its operations. The expectations of Iran are in such an environment.
"We see that under the pressure of the United States, under the psychological atmosphere that the United States has tried to create, some European companies have already begun to withdraw, and this should be faced by the United States. Europeans, "said Zarif. "There are many European companies, many of which have no exposure in the United States, many of them have no contact with the United States."
"Despite the denial of Zarif, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mining and Agriculture, Pedram Soltani, said on July 17 that the exchange of oil for goods could be a way around US sanctions reimposed after the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal in May.
Such tactics were used during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, when Iran has Fought against international sanctions Instead of paying directly for Iranian oil, special bank accounts were set up where oil buyers were depositing money that could only be used to buy certain products. [19659002] Russian Minister of Energy, Alexander Novak, said on July 13 that an agreement whereby Russia would provide goods to Iran in exchange for oil is still possible. legal issues related to a possible agreement, he said.
"We wish that Iran has the opportunity to buy Russian goods, labor and services, to increase the turnover and to develop relations", said Novak, quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.
The "oil for goods" program does not involve a direct purchase of oil from Tehran by Moscow, the minister said. "This is not the purchase by Russia and not by Russian companies," added Novak.
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