Tehran, 23 August 2024 (TDI): Iran’s new foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has called for dialogue with the European Union (EU) to resolve bilateral issues, following a phone call with the bloc’s top envoy.
“Iran welcomes the development of tiens with the EU in an environment based on mutual respect,” Araghchi said in a statement released late Thursday.
Ties between the EU and Tehran have deteriorated in recent years.
The bloc accuses iran of failing to rein in its nuclear activity, providing support to Palestinian group Hamas, backing Moscow’s war in Ukraine, and committing human rights violations.
The development of ties “requires dialogue to resolve problems between the two parties and the correction of the misguided policies of European nations,” Araghchi added.
For his part, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a post on X that he had discussed “possibilities for renewed engagement on all files of mutual interest” with his Iranian counterpart.
The conversation included the “need for restraint and de-escalation” and “ending military cooperation” with Moscow against Ukraine and nuclear non-proliferation.
Borrell said such important dialogue was necessary to defuse regional tensions.
Iranand its Lebanese ally Hezbollah threatened reprisals against Israel following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut in late July.
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Araghchi is known for his openness to the West.
He served as chief nuclear negotiator and played an important role in securing a 2015 deal for Iran to curb its nuclear activity in return for an easing of sanctions.
That agreement was torpedoed in 2018 by then US president Donald Trump. Efforts to revive the deal since 2022 have so far failed.
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