On Saturday, during the meeting with Phil Hogan, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Iranian First Vice-President, Es’hagh Jahangiri, told him that EU should not bend to the wishes of JCPOA violators. First the Iranian official remarked that: “Economic cooperation between Iran and EU member states dates back to old ages and almost all European giants in the fields of energy,industry, and agriculture have been boldly present in Iran’s market”, highlighting that “till before the implementation of sanctions, the EU was Iran’s number one trade partner so much so that even some EU member states would solely rank atop economic partners of Iran”, as he said. He also reassured the EU Commissioner that the development of relations with the EU is seriously high in Iran and listedthe areas of potential cooperation betweenIran and EU in fields like energy, industry, agriculture, and service. Mr. Jahangiri also underlined that the US propaganda against the JCPOA is the main political barrier for the development of ties between Iran and EU. “Tehran expects EU to confront the US seriously” as he said, adding that the EU did not get intimidated by Trump’s behavior and get more active in implementing JCPOA. The EU Commissioner voiced content with negotiations with Iranian agriculture minister, describing the meeting as positive and constructive.
