Tehran, Iran, April 13
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Negotiations with European countries have failed to have tangible results despite the fact that their delegations are regularly visiting Iran, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the visiting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
Some people blame this on the Americans, which is somehow true, regarding their past record and low level of commitment to the JCPOA, Ayatollah Khamenei said, his official website reported April 13.
Regarding the Islamic Republic's relations with Italy, he said President Hassan Rouhani's January visit to the country shows Tehran's goodwill in expanding ties with Rome.
Rouhani's visit, which came a few days after the Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, included signing several memoranda of understanding.
"Iran adopts an optimistic approach toward Italy. Italy used to be more reasonable than some other Western countries during the sanctions. The Islamic Republic welcomes expanding relations with Italy in all areas, economy in particular," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Iran's leader and some other political figures have blamed the US for not helping Iran's economic ties with European countries grow as much as they could under the nuclear deal.
Renzi, for his part, assured that his country abides by the terms of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers.
Elsewhere in their remarks, the two leaders stressed joint effort to fight terrorism, not only militarily and financially, but through cultural measures.