TEHRAN – A senior Iranian lawmaker has said that Europe can’t get concessions from Iran in possible future talks.

The lawmaker, Abolfazl Amouei, who is the spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Iran’s state news agency IRNA that if Europe thinks it can extract concessions from Iran through imposing sanctions, it has no accurate knowledge of Iran. 

He was commenting on the tense situation of Iran-Europe relations in the wake of Brussel’s imposition of sanctions on Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini. 

“Officials explained the death of Ms. Mahsa Amini, and the report of the government, parliament, and medical and law enforcement institutions has also been published. These are internal issues and Western countries have no right to interfere in the affairs of the Islamic Republic,” Amouei said. 

He added, “In the matter of dealing with riots, the necessary measures were taken to deal with actions that disturb the security of the country, so that the riots will end in order to maintain public security and the conditions of the country will move towards normalization.”

Amouei stated that the action of Europe in sanctioning some institutions, officials and individuals causes the destruction of the infrastructure of the bilateral relations between Iran and Europe. He added that the Islamic Republic will show a serious and effective reaction against the recent sanctions.

“Sanctions are definitely not effective because the country's officials have no assets and plans in Europe. But this behavior of theirs creates a negative attitude towards Europe in the eyes of the authorities of our country,” he said. 

The lawmaker continued, “The Europeans failed to fulfill their obligations under the JCPOA. Europe did not play a constructive role during the negotiations and at times turned itself into a passive actor and this had a significant impact on the negotiation process.”

Regarding whether Europe can gain concessions from Iran through these sanctions in possible future negotiations, Amouei noted, “If Europe thinks it will succeed in winning concessions from the Islamic Republic with such a performance, it is clear that it does not have a precise understanding of Iran.

The EU has announced the imposition of sanctions against a number of Iranian individuals and entities allegedly involved in violating human rights, a claim Iran vehemently denied.  

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani strongly condemned a decision by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union to impose unilateral sanctions against some Iranian officials and institutions, describing it a violation of international law and a clear example of interference in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The spokesperson added, “It is deeply regrettable that certain political motivations as well as relying on baseless, distorted information and fabricated claims by the enemies of the Iranian nation and the well-known media affiliated with them are the basis of such a wrong and unconstructive decision.”

Kanaani evaluated the sanctions decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union as an indication of the continuation of a biased approach and exploitation of human rights as a tool to achieve political goals, and called the decision “fundamentally rejected, ineffective and invalid.”

On Wednesday, the Iranian foreign ministry announced a batch of sanctions against several European individuals and entities for their role in supporting terrorism and violence against Iran. 

The sanctions targeted entities within the European parliament as well as some media outlets in France and Germany, including the Persian service of Deutsche Welle and RFI.

The new set of sanctions comes after Iran warned Europe not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini.