Tehran, Iran, May 20
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad - Trend:
The Europe Union and Iran have agreed to set up a working group to develop joint oil and gas projects, European commissioner for energy and climate Miguel Arias Canete said.
We are seeking to remove all obstacles on the path of oil trade between Tehran and European firms, Arias Canete said on May 19 during a meeting with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh, IRNA news agency reported.
He added that financial, banking, insurance and transportation issues should be addressed.
“In order to solve them, we have decided to establish Iran-EU joint working group to begin oil trade (with the Islamic Republic),” the EU energy chief further said.
“We should adopt a comprehensive approach and we are committed to preserving our oil trade with Iran”.
The Iranian minister, for his part, stressed that Iran’s oil exports will remain unaffected if the European Union helps Tehran.
The European commissioner is in Tehran in a bid to show that the European Union wants to keep trade open with Iran despite the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
EU leaders have united behind the 2015 accord, with Brussels considering banning EU-based firms from complying with the sanctions that US President Donald Trump has reimposed and urging governments to make money transfers to Iran’s central bank to avoid fines.
In a speech from the White House on May 8, Trump accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and seeking nukes before announcing the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Following the controversial decision, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the country weighs plans to remain in the agreement with the other five parties, provided that the remaining JCPOA parties ensure its full benefits for Iran.