TEHRAN – Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf received a delegation of Croatian lawmakers in Tehran on Monday.

In the meeting, Qalibaf blamed the contradiction between Washington’s words and deeds as the obstacle to progress in the Vienna talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to Tasnim. 

He said the contradiction between the words and actions of the Americans has prevented the Vienna negotiations from bearing fruit.

“While cruel and illegal sanctions are being imposed against Iran, it matters which countries stand together in difficult circumstances,” the Iranian Parliament speaker stated.

In comments on Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi denounced Washington’s conflicting policy of advocating negotiations and ramping up sanctions against Tehran at the same time, saying the Islamic Republic has a right to be mistrustful of the U.S.

“On the one hand, the Americans send messages that ‘we are prepared for agreement and negotiations’. On the other hand, they ramp up the sanctions. The world should give us the right to distrust them (Americans). They renege on promises,” the president stated.

Qalibaf also touched on the need to boost trade ties between Iran and Croatia. He said, “Parliamentary friendship groups of the two countries can multiply the economic relations of the two countries by activating these relations more than before and facilitating trade relations.”

In the meeting, Qalibaf offered congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the official establishment of relations between Iran and Croatia, and expressed hope that the parliamentary relations between the two countries would become more active.

Underlining that Iran and Croatia have recognized their friends in difficult times, Qalibaf said, “The difficult days of the Balkan War brought us together, sustained relations, and perpetuated it in the memory of states and nations.”