TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi has said that the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States has added another challenge to the European Union’s various existent challenges.

In an article published on the website of Jamaran news agency on Sunday, Qassemi described Trump’s political positions as “unusual” as well as “destructive”, and warned of the troubling consequences of his policies for the EU.

Qassemi noted that commitment to the nuclear agreement – that was reached between Iran and six world powers – is among the most important concerns of the European Union, saying, “The Europeans would push the new American administration, in particular Donald Trump, to remain committed to the deal.”

He added, “Given that one of the determining factors of [good] relations between Europe and America is their stance on post-BARJAM (an acronym for the nuclear agreement) Iran and especially the implementation of BARJAM, the way they interact [with each other] would impact relations between Iran and the European Union.” 

The senior diplomat speculated that during Trump’s tenure, the EU would come to the conclusion that it needs to become self-reliant in political and security issues.

This would lead to more divergence between Europe and America and in turn Washington’s influence on Iran-Europe relations would be reduced in comparison to the previous decade, he opined. 

“However, this does not mean relations between Iran and the European Union would be improved automatically, but it means that the impact of a nuisance has been reduced,” he said, emphasizing that making the most of such opportunity depends on Iran’s “art of diplomacy”.

Qassemi further said that Iran is ready to make use of such a rift, and described it as a “golden opportunity” that the Trump era could possibly bring about for Iran to develop deeper relations with Europe to reduce the “destructive” effects of Trump’s polices.

MH/PA