Iran's Leader Meets Swedish Prime Minister: 'Agreements Should Not Remain on Paper'

The Leader and President of Iran, during a meeting with the Prime Minister of Sweden, called for the implementation of agreements made between Iran and European countries over the past year and a half, and for the European Union to support European companies and banks in cooperating with Iran. According to the state news agency IRNA, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic emphasized that 'most agreements' made by European countries with Iran in the past year and a half have not been 'implemented', and urged the Swedish Prime Minister to ensure that the agreements between the two countries do not 'remain merely on paper'. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also stated that 'Sweden, due to its long-standing relations with Iran, is viewed positively by our people, and this mutual optimism will provide a suitable ground for the development of cooperation'. The Supreme Leader has previously emphasized that the visits of European delegations to Tehran since the Vienna nuclear agreement have not yielded practical results. In a joint press conference with the Swedish Prime Minister, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that the European Union must support European companies and banks so that they can 'maximize their use' of the capacities after the JCPOA and achieve 'mutual interests of Iran and the EU'. Rouhani stressed that even during the sanctions, relations between Iran and Sweden continued, and Sweden's positions on Iran's nuclear file were 'moderate and balanced'. The Swedish Prime Minister also mentioned that the presence of a large business delegation and officials from major Swedish organizations during his visit to Iran demonstrates Sweden's determination to enhance relations with the Islamic Republic. Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, recently stated that in meetings with members of Donald Trump's administration, she was assured that the new U.S. government is committed to 'fully implementing the nuclear agreement with Iran'. Although the new U.S. Defense and Foreign Ministers have suggested that the Iran nuclear agreement should be preserved but enforced more strictly, Mike Pence, Trump's Vice President, recently indicated that the new U.S. administration still views the JCPOA as a bad deal and is evaluating it. The Iranian Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday, January 28, in its fourth quarterly report on the implementation of the Vienna nuclear agreement that 'all extensive barriers and restrictions' resulting from nuclear sanctions have been lifted. According to this ministry, Trump's statements have caused 'a kind of uncertainty and concern about the future of the JCPOA among several foreign companies', and they are waiting for the 'strategy of the new U.S. government'. Recently, the Royal Bank of Scotland announced that it did not accept the pressures from the British government, which is a major shareholder of the bank, to encourage transactions with Iran, as it still considers dealing with that country risky. The Swedish Prime Minister also mentioned that discussions about regional issues, human rights, the Syrian crisis, and Iran's relations with other regional players and Saudi Arabia were among the topics of his conversation with the Iranian President. Stefan Löfven arrived in Tehran at the head of a high-level delegation, including representatives from 40 business companies, and was officially welcomed by the Iranian President the following morning. According to reports, after the meetings between the two countries' delegations, five cooperation documents were signed in the fields of innovation and technology, higher education and research, transportation, communications and information technology, and women's and family affairs. The meeting of the Swedish Prime Minister with Iranian leaders comes at a time when at least one Iranian researcher residing in Sweden is currently imprisoned in Iran, and his family and human rights organizations report threats of execution against him. Ahmadreza Jalali, an Iranian physician residing in Sweden, has been imprisoned in Tehran since spring this year, and his wife recently reported that Judge Salavati threatened him with a 'death sentence on charges of espionage' after reviewing his case. In this context, Amnesty International Sweden had urged the Swedish Prime Minister to address his case with Iranian officials, but it is unclear whether this issue was mentioned during the meetings.