August 10th, 2015

Europe Uses Iranian Trips to Bolster Nuclear Deal

by LobeLog’s Tehran correspondent
It seems like a weekly tradition for senior European officials to travel to Iran. On August 4, for the third consecutive week, a delegation of Europeans arrived in Tehran, this time as part of an economic panel led by Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni and Minister of Economic Development Frederica Guidi.
According to the Iranian media, other Italian ministers and the heads of Italian insurance agencies, banks, auto manufacturers, and pharmaceutical industries—as well as water, electricity, gas, and oil companies such as ENI—accompanied the delegation.
Since 2012, when sanctions were at their peak, Iran lost its profitable trade with European countries. Now, after signing the nuclear deal, Iran is not losing any opportunity to improve its relations with European powers. On August 5, on meeting the Italian foreign minister, Iran’s moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, said there are no obstacles to improving bilateral relations, and the two countries “could open a new chapter in economic, political, cultural, scientific and tourism exchange.”| http://www.lobelog.com/europe-uses-iranian-trips-to-bolster-nuclear-deal/#more-30461