Iran president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian ready for ‘constructive dialogue’ with Europe
- Pezeshkian says the two sides can explore ‘numerous areas of cooperation’ if the Europeans set aside their ‘self-arrogated moral supremacy’
Iran’s president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian said he looked forward to improved relations with European nations, even though he accused them of reneging on commitments to mitigate the impact of US sanctions.
Pezeshkian won a run-off election against ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili last week.
The 69-year-old has called for “constructive relations” with Western countries to “get Iran out of its isolation”, and favours reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers.
The United States unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018, reimposing sanctions, which led Iran to gradually reduce its commitment to the terms of the deal. The agreement aimed to curb nuclear activity, which Tehran maintains is for peaceful purposes.
In an article published late on Friday in the English-language Tehran Times newspaper, Pezeshkian said after the US pull-out from the 2015 deal, European nations committed to trying to salvage it and mitigate the impact of US sanctions.
