Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei is determined to build better diplomatic and trade ties with every country in the world – though not with the United States, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
Khamenei met President Hassan Rouhani and his cabinet on Sunday and spoke of the “necessity of developing diplomacy and relations with foreign countries,” according to a transcript published by ISNA.
“Except for a few cases – such as the United States – Iran’s relations with other countries, including with the West and the East, must expand and further develop.”
Iran’s leadership has spent the last month in a determined diplomatic blitz of Europe as it seeks to tie up deals and support ahead of the end of the Obama-negotiated 2015 nuclear deal and the reimposition sanctions.
Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia have vowed to stay in the flawed agreement, but their companies risk huge penalties if they keep doing business in the Islamic republic.
As Breitbart Jerusalem reported, Rouhani said Europeans must financially compensate Iran if they want to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran had already been disappointed with the economic benefits of the JCPOA deal as it emerged that a raft of remaining U.S. sanctions stopped the country from establishing international banking ties and other trade links.
Rouhani wants Europe to give “real guarantees” that they can sustain trade with Iran despite U.S. nuclear-related sanctions that re-start on November 8.
On Sunday, he called for “courage and determination” from the government as it faced down the threats from the U.S., and said economic officials were now key to maintaining “hope and morale in people”.
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